BHOPAL: It was the fear of 1984 once again in Bhopal’s Idgah Hills locality on Wednesday evening as a gas leak from a water filtration plant left people in the densely-populated locality coughing, vomiting and gasping in panic.
Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials say it was a chlorine leak and no one was seriously hurt. A major incident was averted as firefighters and plant employees showed presence of mind and used a crane to throw the 1.5 tonne cylinder into a water tank, sources said. It had 900kg of chlorine.
"A minor leakage of gas was reported from a chlorine tank. Efforts are underway to control it. There’s no stampede-like situation. Nobody was injured, some were taken to hospital," collector Avinash Lavania told newspersons.
"There has been an impact on local residents and the situation is under control," said BMC commissioner KVS Choudhary at 11 pm on Wednesday. BMC and disaster management teams have been deployed in the area as a precaution.
It was not clear till midnight if the gas leak had impacted the nearby TB hospital, barely 500m from the plant. It is one of the largest COPD and TB treatment centres in the state.
Idgah Hills was one of the areas worst hit in the 1984 gas tragedy in which thousands were killed and lakhs more continue to suffer.
According to reports, the first leak was detected around 2.30pm. Technicians traced it to corrosion in the cylinders and tried to fix the valves but failed, say sources. Around 5.30pm, chlorine gas started to leak again.
Panic spread in the areas as people suddenly felt a burning in the eyes and a strong smell, followed by a cough, say locals. Many began vomiting.
As soon as the alert went out, a fire brigade team sped to the spot. Instead of shutting off the cylinder, firefighters had it immersed in a 5-ft-deep water tank letting the gas dissipate in the water. The leak was brought under control within half an hour, said BMC chief engineer Udit Garg.
BMC officials say there was no impact on human life and no one needed medical attention. “We expect the chlorine to dilute in the water by morning,” said Choudhary, adding that they will investigate the leak. Minister Vishwas Sarang visited the locality at night and reassured residents.
Quick thinking saved the day
The fire brigade was alerted about the chlorine gas leak within 10 minutes and firefighters from Fatehgarh were on the scene in another 10, say officials. Some personnel donned Firefighter Breathing Operator (BA) suits, which have closed oxygen supply, to stop the leak but it could not be done because a joint in the cylinder had opened up, they say.
The cylinder weighs one and a half tonnes. Realising that minutes could mean the difference between life and death, the firefighters decided not to waste any more time on fixing the cylinder.
With the help of a crane, the cylinder was lifted and dunked in a 5-ft-deep water tank. Also, caustic soda and lime were added to dissolve chlorine.
The cylinder contained 900 kg of chlorine. If all of it had escaped, it would have led to a very dangerous situation, say officials. The gas started dissipating in the water.
It is alleged that parts of the cylinder had rusted and its joints and nozzles were weakened. Each of these cylinders is good for 10 days of operations at the plant. The Idgah water filtration plant is one of the few with an advanced system to detect water supply. It was upgraded in 2019.
