Ammonia leak scare at Deep Nagar

Gurvinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 15

Tragedy was averted with timely action after ammonia gas leaked in the Gill Road area today. The incident happened at a defunct ice-making unit in the area when junk dealers came to collect old material from the factory. The factory had been lying closed in the Deep Nagar area on Gill Road for the past 20 years .

The incident was a frightening reminder of the ammonia-leak incident at the Doraha flyover when five persons were killed two years ago.

The owners of the factory had called junk dealers to get rid of the old material lying in the factory. When the workers were removing and cutting some material, a pungent smell started emanating from the factory.

While a few residents complained of uneasiness in breathing and irritation in eyes, those, who knew it was the smell of ammonia, immediately phoned the police. Panic gripped the residents as the word spread that the pungent smell and irritation in eyes was caused by ammonia. Pungent smell forced the residents to cover their noses.

A few residents rushed to the Shimlapuri police station to report the matter to the police.

A police team and administrative officials rushed to the spot. Two fire engines and an ambulance were also called.

Two workers, who tried to plug the leakage, suffered from nausea and had to be taken away to help them recover.

The firefighters started pouring water on the leaking pipe to lessen the effect of gas.

Tehsildar Karun Gupta, who visited the spot, said they got information in time which averted the tragedy. The situation has been brought under control with two fire engines pouring water on the leaking pipe for more than three hours.

Shimlapuri SHO Parveen Kumar said there had been no casualty. The matter is being inquired into and the owners of the factory would be questioned, he added.

Questions raised over unsafe disposal of hazardous material 

The incident has raised questions over unsafe disposal of hazardous material in factories. Deputy Director of Factories Jatinder Singh Bhatti said the owners were supposed to inform the Labour Department in case of temporary closure of factories. They are also required to give information about residual material and its disposal in case they use chemicals and other such materials in manufacturing. In case of permanent closure of units, checks are conducted for everything, including disposal of materials. Such checks are conducted until two years after the closure of any factory unit, he said.