Bengaluru, Apr 1: Karnataka government along with BBMP has asked project contractors, builders and developers in the city not to send their labourers to their native place and instead provide them with amenities like food and shelter in this lockdown period.
It was also warned with legal action would be taken against them if they violating the instructions from the government .
New Delhi, May 8: After deadly styrene gas leak in Visakhapatnam, Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister D V Sadananda Gowda urged all public and private chemical makers to exercise caution and care while reopening their plants.
Union Environment Ministry and State Pollution Control Boards have also issued separate directives to all companies to take extreme precaution while restarting their units that remained suspended due to the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country, he said.
There was a gas leak from LG Polymers plant at Visakhapatnam in the early hours on Thursday, causing 10 deaths and hundreds of people getting hospitalised.
"LG Polymers does not come under direct control of our ministry. However, we have asked all public and private chemicals manufacturers to exercise caution and care while reopening their plants," Gowda told PTI.
The minister said his officers are coordinating with the Andhra Pradesh government.
He further said LG Polymers, a multinational chemical company, had kept its unit ready for reopening after one and half month of lockdown. The unit started leaking at around 3.40 am on Thursday due to pressure.
"The toxic gas leak has affected both people and animals. Around 850 people have been hospitalised," Gowda said, adding that measures have been taken to control the situation at the plant site and final updates are awaited.
At present, Indian chemicals market size is about USD 163 billion, which is only three per cent of the global chemical industry of USD 5 trillion, as per the official data.
Bengaluru, Mar 24: Underlining the seriousness of the coronavirus, which is spreading like wildfire in Karnataka, renowned Heart Surgeon and founder of Narayana Hrudayalaya Dr Devi Shetty on Tuesday predicted that Karnataka alone will have more than 80,000 people affected with the dreaded killer disease COVID-19 if people fail to protect themselves.
He urged the people to cooperate with the Government in preventing its further spread and immediately treat those who are affected.
Dr Shetty, urging the people to remain indoors and not to venture out, said those who are affected should not come out and remain in isolation even in their houses and take all precautions advised by doctors.
He said if 80,000 people in the state were affected, more than 20,000 need to be admitted to Hospital for treatment.
"More than 2000 affected need to be kept under ventilation and it requires more infrastructure in the hospitals," he said.
New Delhi, Apr 4: The Supreme Court on Friday urged Karnataka and Kerala to amicably resolve their issues concerning a border blockade that has choked the free flow of vehicles carrying essential items and patients in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Karnataka, which imposed the blockade, justified that its border was sealed to “combat the spread of the pandemic by preventing the movement of people from the bordering districts of Kerala to Karnataka”.
The State had moved the Supreme Court, challenging a Kerala High Court order on April 1 to open the border. Kerala has countered that patients from the State cannot be denied access to health care. Besides, the blockade has severely affected the supply of essential items, from medicines to food, to Kerala.
On Friday, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Deepak Gupta urged the States to not confront each other in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis. Instead, it asked the Chief Secretaries of both States to sit with the Union Health Secretary and iron out a solution. Meanwhile, the apex court urged Kerala not to take any precipitative action based on the High Court order.
The court issued notice to Kerala on the appeal filed by Karnataka, represented by advocate Shubhranshu Padhi. It listed the case for further hearing on April 7.
Karnataka, in its appeal against the High Court order, said the blockade was put in place in the interest of public health. The situation regarding Coronavirus was “really dire”, it said. It warned that opening the blockade would cause a law and order issue as its local population wanted the border to remain sealed.
Karnataka argued that Kerala was the “worst-affected” State in the country with nearly 194 coronavirus cases. In this, Kasaragod, adjoining Karnataka, was the “worst affected” district of Kerala with over a 100 positive cases.
MP’s plea
The court also separately considered a writ petition by Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan for an order to forthwith open the State border.
The parliamentarian, represented by advocates Haris Beeran and Pallavi Pratap, urged the court to issue an ex-parte stay on the operation of the blockade imposed by Karnataka with its border States.
Mr. Unnithan said Karnataka’s blockade was “ill-planned and dangerous” and had led to loss of lives. Two patients from Kerala, in need of urgent medical care, died after their ambulances were denied entry at the border by the Karnataka authorities.
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