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Chlorine gas leak sends 14 to hospital in Dehradun, govt orders probe
A gas leak at a water works facility in Dehradun sparked panic after at least 14 people were hospitalised with symptoms of vomiting and nausea.
At least 14 people were hospitalised after complaining of nausea and vomiting after chlorine gas leaked from the water supply centre of Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan (UJS) in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.
UJS constituted a probe committee on Friday, hours after the gas leaked from a storage cylinder. Officials said it took about an hour to stop the leakage. Those affected by the leakage were mostly labourers and their families who were sleeping in the water supply centre on Rajpur Road.
“The leakage happened from a cylinder. It is similar to a leakage of LPG cylinder. Five labourers and three children first complained about vomiting and dizziness and soon team of fire brigade and police arrived. Four policemen also complained of similar symptoms,” Yashveer Mal, executive engineer (north circle) told HT.
Two UJS workers were also among those affected.
He said barring three children, all others were discharged from the hospital. The children are also out of danger, but have been kept under observation as a precautionary measure.
Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said he was monitoring the situation personally.
The investigation will also involve the gas cylinder supplying agency. The DIG (Garhwal) Pushpak Jyoti and commissioner (Garhwal) Dilip Jawalkar toured the site on Friday and gathered information about the incident.
“The committee in coordination with engineers of the other wings will give report on the reasons and safety measures being carried out,” the executive engineer informed.
