Gas leak in Dehradun causes panic
On Tuesday morning, a chlorine gas leak in Jhajhra region of Dehradun caused fear and forced residents to flee their houses, according to officials. They said that a cylinder stored in an empty lot of land released gas, and that upon learning of the occurrence, security personnel hurried individuals to safety with no reported harm.
Uttarakhand CM orders officials to investigate
Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, has instructed authorities to look into the storing of toxic gas cylinders close to a residential area. The incident was reported to the district control room here in the morning, according to the officials.
After rushing to the scene with the required equipment, the commander of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and experts in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear fields discovered that one of the four cylinders contained within the plot was leaking, according to the officials.
Residents in the surrounding areas were hurried to safe places, according to the officials, who also stated that members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and fire brigade were dispatched to the scene.
The rescue steps taken after gas leak in Dehradun
An NDRF officer stated that the leaky cylinder was filled with water and then buried. According to him, subterranean gas leaks in water are mild and do not propagate widely.
“After the cylinder is completely emptied of its content, it will be buried under the ground with soil,” NDRF Assistant Commandant Praveen Kumar said, adding that this is the safest and most effective option.
According to him, masks have been issued to both the operation’s workers and the general public until the gas’s tiniest traces are still visible in the atmosphere. Chlorine is a constricting substance that can potentially be lethal if breathed in excess, according to Kumar.
In response to a query from the media, he stated that the administration is the only one who can determine who maintained the chlorine gas cylinders in an abandoned lot close to a residential neighborhood. “All I can say is as the gas is highly poisonous, the cylinders should not have been kept close to a populated area,” Kumar said.
Residents share the deets
He said that people inside their homes were instructed to keep their doors and windows closed. The residents were unaware of the leaking at first when it began in the wee hours of the morning.
According to local resident Sushma Rawat, there was first a scent, then burning in the eyes and irritation in the throat. Her dog started sneezing frequently, and as the night went on, the noise got louder, which startled her.
“Someone from the neighborhood then went out to check and found the cylinders lying in a vacant plot. The effect of the gas in the air was so strong that he could not even breathe and came back running,” Rawat said.
