Andhra govt decides not to store any hazardous material at Vizag port: YSRCP MP

Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], November 14 : Months after huge quantities of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse exploded in Beirut killing at least 190 people and injuring 6,500 others, YSRCP MP Vijaysai Reddy on Friday said that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government has taken a decision not to store any hazardous material in Visakhapatnam in the interest of the people.
Speaking to ANI, Reddy said that the Ministry of Coal has written a letter and requested the Chief Minister to allow four ships that are waiting for unloading at the port.
"People of Visakhapatnam have been seeing the effect of storing of hazardous material and recent incidents that have occurred. In the backdrop, the government of Andhra Pradesh not to allow the manufacture of any hazardous material in the interest of people as executive capital will be shifted here," the YSRCP MP said when asked about the government not allowing to unload the tonnes of ammonium nitrate.
"The Ministry of Coal has written a letter and requested CM to allow four ships that are waiting for unloading at the port. One ship has been unloaded and three remaining. The only condition imposed the Andhra Pradesh government is that these materials will not be stored in Visakhapatnam, they will be transhipped directly from ship port to respective destination of factories," he said.
The Andhra Pradesh government's move comes after a powerful blast in the port of the Lebanese capital in August this year killed at least 190 people and left 6,500 others injured.
The explosion, which caused an estimated USD 15 billion in damages and prompted the country's government to resign, has been blamed on the improper storage of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate by the port authorities.