Panic and fright gripped the residents of the Ramabainagar slum area near Bhatnagar in Pimpri on Tuesday morning after deadly chlorine gas leaked from the municipal corporation-run sewage treatment plant (STP) situated along the Pimpri-Chinchwad link road. It is reported that more than 82 people were affected due to the leak, which began at around 3 am in the early morning, when people were engrossed in deep slumber. The residents woke up complaining of eye and throat irritation, vomiting and breathing problems. While 56 people were treated on the spot, 26 others had to be hospitalized but got discharged later in the evening.

The gas, which leaked from a one-tonne cylinder placed in the chlorinator room, spread into the slum sited behind the sewage plant. Astonishingly, the workers at the plant realized that the gas started leaking only at around 4.30 am. The workers threw the cylinder into water in a desperate attempt to minimize the effects of the leak.

“The workers made a rational and courageous attempt to throw the cylinder into water, but the act later caused a lot of problems for us in controlling the leak,” informed one of fire-brigade personnel.

To elucidate, the gas that leaked from a cylinder, which weighed around 900 kg, was among a dozen such cylinders kept at the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC)-managed STP. Apparently, one of the valves of the cylinder was already damaged. The spread of the toxic gas caused terror among the 30,000-odd residents of nearby Ramabai Ambedkarnagar. The residents woke up from sleep upon experiencing breathlessness and uneasiness, and ran out of their homes into streets to get fresh air.
The situation was finally brought under control after six hours. Civic staff evacuated the locales to safety. Three ambulances of the PCMC carried people complaining of uneasiness to hospitals.

Furthermore, roads in the vicinity were blocked for an hour from 7 am, preventing any movement of vehicles. This led to confusion on Pimpri over bridge and Bhatnagar Road. School and company buses were also found caught in the traffic jam.
The leakage was noticed around 3:30 am by two night guards at the STP, Bharat Jadhav and Ganesh Khilare. “We started to experience severe breathing problem and saw gas leaking out from the cylinder. We covered our faces with wet cloth and somehow managed to push the cylinder into water at the plant, with the help of two other staff members,” said Jadhav.

Some workers at the plant alleged that someone could have made an attempt to steal the brass cork on the cylinder, which triggered the leak. They said that related attempts to steal brass corks were reported in the past as well. “It could have been a case of stealing, but I believe that negligence by the workers could also be one of the probable reasons for the leak. The workers need to adhere to the proper drills for handling the cylinders. We are investigating the precise reason that caused the leak and soon shall present a detailed report to the media,” said municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma.

The corporation is also investigating the reason for only one security guard being stationed at the plant when two are supposed to be on duty. The fire-brigade personnel hurried to the plant after the residents and the factory workers informed them about the leak.

‘The incident reminded me of the infamous Bhopal gas tragedy that took so many valuable human lives. The government should be more cautious and make sure that this kind of deadly incidents should never happen again,” said Kartick Ghosal, a resident of Nigdi.

- Siddhartha Laik