Probe into dumping of cylinder in sea

The Sewri police is conducting an independent probe into the case of chlorine gas cylinders that were dumped into the sea and found ashore at Worli Koliwada on Wednesday.

The Sewri police is conducting an independent probe into the case of chlorine gas cylinders that were dumped into the sea and found ashore at Worli Koliwada on Wednesday.

HT Image

“Those found guilty will be punished,” said Minister of State for Home Ramesh Bagwe at the Legislative Council on Friday.

BJP legislator Sanjay Kelkar raised the issue where a chlorine leak at the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) premises on June 13 had led hospitalisation of 133 people, including 80 workers.

“There has to be some long-term plan for the safety of people. The cylinder being abandoned in the sea is unacceptable,” Kelkar said.

Bagwe said the state was serious about the issue and hence isn’t accepting the report submitted by the MbPT to the police.

“We have written to 11 departments including the Maritime board and the state environment department to get inputs on the incident,” he said.

Peasants Workers Party leader Jayant Patil said the issue should be looked at through a larger perspective. “Considering that the port has become an issue of safety and we are not sure how it is handling its cargo, we should look at a long-term solution for this issue,” he said.

“We have the standard operational procedures in place for meeting such disasters and we have a high level committee headed by chief secretary to handle this,” Patil added.