Ludhiana gas leak: SIT set up, blame game on

A five-member Punjab Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) will probe the Giaspura locality gas leak incident here in which 11 people died after allegedly inhaling toxic gas, police commissioner Mandeep Singh Sidhu said on Monday.

Sidhu said the SIT will be led by deputy commissioner of police (investigation) Harmeet Singh Hundal. The other members of SIT are additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, City 2) Suhail Qassim Mir, ADCP (city 4) Tushar Gupta, assistant commissioner of police (ACP, South) Vaibhav Sehgal and Inspector Inderjit Singh Boparai, SHO at Police station Sahnewal.

As per the FIR, the illegal dumping of chemical waste into the sewer is the reason behind the leak. A magisterial inquiry has already been ordered, and police have registered an FIR under IPC section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against unidentified persons.

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Even 36 hours after the tragedy, there is still no clarity on how the deadly hydrogen sulfide formed in sewers. Hydrogen sulphide, also called sewer gas, is poisonous and smells like rotten eggs. District authorities said the locality underwent a night-long decontamination process involving putting caustic soda in drains and sewerage lines to counter the hydrogen sulphide build-up.

Probe agencies at loggerheads

As teams of the Ludhiana administration, comprising officials of Ludhiana police, Ludhiana municipal corporation and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), are conducting an investigation, the agencies appear to be at loggerheads over the possible reasons for the lethal leak.

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Officials of the PPCB alleged that the sewer had not been cleaned up for a while, and blockage of the vent pipe of the sewer in the area could have resulted in the decomposition of organic matter that led to the formation of the poisonous gas.

“We have done a careful mapping of the area and found no unit within 200m distance from the spot of the gas leak (manholes), which could be carrying out the illegal activity of dumping chemical waste in the sewer. The police have scanned CCTV and have not spotted anyone in the vicinity carrying out such an activity. It is most likely that the theory that an electroplating unit in the area dumped effluent in the sewer will be ruled out. We are working with the police and administration and providing all the support,” said Sandeep Behl, chief environmental engineer, PPCB, Ludhiana.

However, police and Ludhiana MC refuted the PPCB’s theory and said: “We are suspecting the presence of a strong acid or heavy metal discharge into the sewer pipe.”

“The sewer in the area was cleaned recently. The sample reports are awaited, and it will be clear soon as to what was discharged in the sewer pipe which led to the lethal gas formation. The electroplating units in the vicinity are under scanner, and waste discharge methods adopted by them will be checked,” said Shena Aggarwal, MC commissioner.

“MC teams had detailed discussions with experts from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), who are of the view that such a heavy discharge of hydrogen sulfide or carbon monoxide in the sewer can be explained only by high levels of metal and acid content in the sewer,” she added. The MC team also took samples of sewage discharge on Monday.

PPCB not cooperating: commissioner

Police Commissioner Sidhu accused the PPCB of not cooperating. He said cops will not hesitate to take action against the pollution board officials if they do not cooperate with the investigations. “We will be investigating the role of electroplating units in the area through PPCB, who will be informing us of the chemical waste disposal methods adopted by the units. Eleven lives have been lost due to a high concentration of chemical contamination in the sewer pipe, and we will reach the bottom of this,” he said.

Area decontaminated: DC

Ludhiana deputy commissioner Surabhi Malik on Monday said the area has been decontaminated. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the municipal corporation took readings of the ambient air quality in the area throughout the night, she said, adding, “Hydrogen sulphide was no longer detected in the air.” The teams also checked the manholes in the area at frequent intervals. “During the night, the level of hydrogen sulphide in the manholes was high but it has gone down after the chemical decontamination process,” she said.

“All aspects are being investigated,” Malik added.

Bittu slams PPCB

Ludhiana Member of Parliament Ravneet Singh Bittu slammed PPCB, who did not have a chemical analyser to assess the level of poisonous gas in the air.

“PPCB, the pollution board in the largest industrial district in the state, does not have basic equipment. It’s a shame that they could not conduct basic tests,” Bittu said.

Being made scapegoat: Industry

Several industry representatives said it is wrong to point fingers at the industry without valid proof. “We always cooperate with the government, but the industry should not be harassed,” said Upkar Singh Ahuja, president, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking (CICU).

Gurmeet Singh Kular, president, FICO (Federation of Industrial and commercial organization), claimed there is no possibility of hydrogen sulphide gas formation through reaction with any industrial effluent. “Even if the assumption is drawn that any spent chemical, in the form of HCL or H2SO4, was discharged, then also no gas in such a huge amount could have been produced. Shifting blame on industry, without proof is unfair and unjust, he said.