The HPCL management should focus on pollution mitigation to the extent possible and also improve the safety measures at its Visakha refinery before going ahead with expansion.

It was the opinion expressed by several speakers at a public hearing organised in front of the refinery on Friday on the project to expand the capacity from 8.55 million tonnes per annum to 15 million tonnes. The AP Pollution Control Board organised the hearing. The cost of the project is Rs 18,412 crore.

Ganababu, MLA, said there were apprehensions among the public about the safety aspect in view of two major accidents which occurred in the refinery during the past 20 years. The first one occurred in 1997, claiming 61 lives, and the second in 2013 claiming 26 workers. The management should take all possible steps to improve safety.

He said pollution mitigation should also be high on the agenda of HPCL and the most modern, eco-friendly technologies should be used. Locals should be given more employment, he added.

Several local leaders spoke about the health hazards being caused in the neighbourhood due to the pollution caused by the refinery and wanted the establishment of a hospital by the HPCL authorities out of the CSR funds.

Several union leaders spoke about the plight of the contract labour in the refinery and said HPCL, as the principal employer, should take responsibility to better their lot.

T V N Madhav, BJP leader, said the Visakha refinery should be a green one.

sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in

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