It hurts every day, the absence of someone who was once there. During this battle against coronavirus, the leak from LG polymers on the 7th of May 2020 took place in Gopalapatnam near Vizag were at least 11 people died and hundreds were under the urgent need of medical facilities shook our minds. This occurred due to leak of styrene gas which is an odorless/light yellow flammable liquid, primarily used for the production of polystyrene plastics and resins. It is very dangerous if inhaled as it can cause irritation of nose and throat, coughing, and wheezing and creates a fluid in lungs which ultimately is fatal. Its collective symptoms lead to depression of the central nervous system. Some studies suggest that there may be a relation between styrene exposure and risk of leukemia and lymphoma also.
India has been a country of leaks as 36 years ago i.e., in 1984 toxic chemical leak in a pesticide plant in Bhopal killed thousands of people, acknowledged as the world’s worst industrial disaster known as Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Today also we can see the after-effects of that tragedy as children as stillborn with disabilities. However, Methaneisocyanide was more fatal than styrene gas.
For effective and expeditious disposal of such case, National Green Tribunal took cognizance in this case as section 14 and 15 of NGT Act is concerned with material accessed by tribunal regarding the extent of damage to life, public health and environment and provided relief and compensation to the victims of environmental damage, asked the factory to deposit 50 crores as compensation. This states that the occurrence clearly attracts the rule of strict liability and some people must be happy and thinking that accurate punishment in the form of compensation has been awarded. As the rule of strict liability, which has been noted under Rayland’s v. Fletcher in 1868 says that a person is liable for some harm even though he’s not negligent in causing the same or there is no intention or sometimes he may even have made positive efforts to avert the same i.e., sometimes there is no fault liability. In the case of a styrene gas leak, all the essentials of strict liability is present.
It is rightly said by Martin Luther King Jr. All labors that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. In M.C. Mehta v. UOI, the Supreme court dealt with leakage of oleum gas in 1985 where the action was brought through writ petition under Article 32 by PIL and rule of Absolute liability as a part of Article 21 of Constitution of India evolved in preference to Strict liability. The rule was necessary to come into existence because in Rayland’s v. Fletcher those who were accused under could escape in liability for the havoc caused thereby by pleading some exception to the strict liability rule. Thus unlike strict liability, absolute liability was not subjected to any exception like Act of God, an act of the third party, plaintiff’s default, statutory authority, plaintiff’s consent, etc. And then this rule became law of land and was applied in all the similar cases that followed with hope that this will not allow conditions for other Andersons to escape!
Initially, Section 304 culpable homicide not amounting to murder of IPC, 1860 was the only law applied to such hazardous instances, and later Section 304A came in force dealing with death due to negligence and imposing punishment of maximum 2 years and a fine. Soon after some laws have been enacted:
- Bhopal Gas leak( processing of claims) Act,1985
- Environment Protection Act,1986
- The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991
- The National Environment Appellate Authority Act, 1997
- National Green Tribunal Act, 2010
Which are all directly or indirectly based on the polluter pays principle.
Thus such drastic incidents that affect human society not only physically but socially also should not be just escaped by awarding compensations. Strict actions must be taken as the life of every single being on earth is precious.
In the end, from Australian bushfire to Vizag gas leak, 2020 has been a nightmare, lets hope for the world to wake up if not for a better world.
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