Meerut (UP), Sep 16 (PTI) Fifteen people were taken ill after a chlorine gas leak from a sewage treatment plant in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, prompting the announcement of a magisterial probe into the matter, officials said on Wednesday.
The leak occurred near the Akanksha Ambience Colony in Pallavpuram Phase-2 on Tuesday, prompting residents to rush outside with children and elderly family members.
A fire tender and a police team reached the spot after being alerted. Police used loudspeakers to advise people to cover their faces with masks or handkerchiefs and remain indoors.
Fifteen people fell ill after being exposed to the gas and were admitted to a hospital, officials said, adding that while four of them were discharged, the treatment of the rest is on.
District Magistrate V K Singh said on Wednesday that the incident occurred between 7 pm and 7:15 pm on Tuesday at the sewage treatment plant (STP) of the municipal corporation in Pallavpuram.
A preliminary inquiry conducted by a technical team suggested that a cut in a valve might have caused the gas leak, he said.
Soon after the leak was reported, municipal corporation officials, experts and other officials, including the additional district magistrate (finance) and the superintendent of police (city), reached the spot and the team of experts managed to stop the gas leak, the DM said.
He said a magisterial probe has been ordered into the matter and a committee headed by the additional district magistrate (city) formed for the purpose.
The probe will look into the cause of the leak and whether there was any negligence at any level, Singh said.
Municipal Commissioner Saurabh Gangwar said the leak was caused by a faulty valve on a chlorine cylinder installed at the STP.
Teams from the municipal waterworks department and Dauraula Organic reached the site, inspected the plant and stopped the leak, he said.
“The situation was brought under control in some time,” Gangwar said, adding that officials are monitoring the area.
Due to the pungent smell of the gas, some families had locked up their houses and left for safer places, returning only at night, while some others chose to spend the night at their relatives’ houses, the officials said. PTI COR KIS ABN RC
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