New Delhi: There was a stir in the water treatment plant located in Godhani village of Nagpur in the early hours of Monday when poisonous gas suddenly started leaking from a huge chlorine cylinder kept there. At midnight, when most of the people were sleeping deeply, suddenly the pungent and suffocating smell in the air made it difficult for people to breathe. Due to burning sensation in the throat, persistent cough and severe burning sensation in the eyes, distraught people started running out of their homes towards the streets.
Shortness of breath and fear of midnight
After this accident that happened around 1 am in the night, the poisonous gas released from the 900 kg capacity chlorine cylinder quickly spread to the nearby residential areas. As the gas spread increased with the direction of the wind, an atmosphere of screams and panic was created in the area.
Due to severe difficulty in breathing, the health of many people started deteriorating. Seeing the seriousness of the situation, the citizens immediately informed the police and fire department.
200 meter area sealed, NDRF and fire brigade took charge
Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) fire brigade vehicles reached the spot along with firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus. Realizing the urgency of the situation, a special team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and technicians of drinking water supply company 'Orange City Water' (OCW) also got involved in relief work.
Mankapur police station took immediate action and cordoned off the entire area and shifted all the citizens living within 200 meters of the leakage site to safe places.
vehicles kept running in hospitals
Dozens of people affected by the gas were immediately taken to nearby hospitals for treatment. People were admitted to Sparsh Hospital and Mayo Hospital in Zingabai Takli in police vehicles and private vehicles. Where his treatment is continuing under the supervision of doctors. Although amidst this chaos, the matter of relief was that no human being lost his life, but a voiceless dog died due to exposure to this poisonous gas.
Controlled by immersing the cylinder in caustic soda tank
After hours of hard work, the rescue teams completely controlled the gas leak at around 5:30 in the morning. After this, NDRF, Fire Brigade and OCW employees, with utmost caution, removed the heavy 900 kg cylinder and immersed it in a big tank of water mixed with caustic soda to completely neutralize the effect of the poisonous gas. Describing the situation as completely under control, the local administration and Mankapur Police have appealed to the citizens not to pay attention to any kind of rumors and maintain patience.