Karnal, August 26
Residents of Baldhi village in Karnal returned to their village this morning after spending a sleepless night following gas leakage from a truck ferrying Bromine liquid near their village. Officially 30 persons fell sick due to the gas leakage, unofficial figure of the sick is being put at 48. Baldhi village, which was the worst affected, was evacuated last night.
Pungent fumes were reddish-orange in colour. The truck, which loaded bromine liquid bottles at Mumbai, was headed for Dera Bassi when the incident took place. Bromine liquid is believed to have been imported from Ukraine. The driver of the truck realised that fumes were coming out and he turned the truck from the national highway to the Karnal-Indri road.
He then parked the vehicle on an unmetalled road away from habitation. However, thick fumes began to come out from the liquid bottles. Due to wind direction, fumes went towards Baldhi village. causing panic the village.
After fire brigade men failed to contain the fumes, a decision was taken to move the truck to another desolate spot on the Indri road to ensure that Baldhi villagers and people living in neighbouring areas were not affected. The situation was brought under control after a team of experts from Chandigarh arrived at the spot. They brought with them sodium thiosulphate which was mixed with water and sprayed on bromine liquid. The reddish-orange fumes were neutralised and the colour changed to white.
Mr Om Prakash, panch of Baldhi village, said that panic gripped the villagers at 6 pm yesterday. He said that Leela, a village resident, was one of the first person’s to fall unconscious after inhaling the gas leaking from a truck near the village. Thereafter, everybody started rush up out of home to escape from fumes.
Most of the affected persons are girls and women. Villagers complained of giddiness, irritation in eyes and nausea. Gas haze enveloped the village. Mr Om Prakash said that the affected villagers were taken to Civil Hospital. “The rest of us rushed towards GT road as there was no gas effect in that area. Some of us took our cattles along,” he said.
Mr Chandel Singh, a resident of Baldhi village whose six members of his family were affected, recalled that they faced difficulty in breathing. “My nephew Balwan Singh, who had gone to help felt uneasy and began
complaining of acute irritation in eye. He is recuperating in Hospital,” he said.
He said that residents of Baldhi village and other areas including Basant Vihar, Salari, Tikri and 2-3 deras went to the GT road to escape fumes. Nearly one km stretch of road from Liberty chowk was occupied by local residents. “We returned to our homes this morning,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Karnal Shyamal Mishra said that the situation was brought under control by late last night. He said that the bromine liquid bottles stacked in wooden crates, Mr Mishra said that the cause of the incident is not yet known. The chemical was being transported by an open truck from Mumbai to Dera Bassi. He said that Bromine liquid bottles were stacked in wooden crates. Mr Mishra said that the cause of the incident is not yet known. The chemical seems to be corrosive in nature and prolonged exposure can cause health problems. We ensured that Baldhi village residents were shifted out last night,” he said.
A doctor at the Civil Hospital said that out of 30 persons who were admitted to the hospital last night, only two are left while the rest have discharged. patients complained of breathlessness and irritation in throat and eyes,” he said.
Mr Bhim Singh, a Haryana Roadways crane operator, said that he lost consciousness in yesterday’s incident. “With my crane, I had dragged the truck from which gas was leaking to a new location but I had kept the engine of the crane running after I disembarked. But, when I tried to return, gas had engulfed the crane and I fell unconscious,” he said. A police official said that a case has been registered against the driver of the truck. He said that the truck contained 4095 bottles of bromine. Bottles were kept in 1365 wooden crates with each crate containing three bottles.
