31 monkeys, 14 pigeons die in suspected gas leak from industrial unit in Maharashtra
Raigad (Maharashtra), Dec 16: Around 30 monkeys and 14 pigeons died after suspected gas leak from an industrial unit in Raigad district of Maharashtra, officials said Sunday.
The carcasses of the animals were buried in pits near the place following the incident that took place on Thursday night at the unit located in Posri area of Panvel taluka, around 10 km from the Karnala Bird Sanctuary, they said.
A senior official at the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) at Raigad said fumes that leaked out of a chemical storage tank might have spread in the atmosphere and caused the mishap.
Terming the incident as "unfortunate", Raigad District Collector Vijay Suryavanshi said the gas leaked from one of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) plants, which was previously a unit of the Hindustan Organic Chemicals Limited (HOCL).
Acting on a tip-off, teams of the forest department, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and police visited the site for an inspection on Saturday, Chief Conservator of Forests S R Kadam said.
They exhumed carcasses of 31 monkeys and 14 pigeons buried in pits dug up at the site, he said.
A raw acid leaked from one of the old plants leading to the incident, Suryavanshi said, adding that various agencies were conducting a probe into it.
Eight people, including seven attached to the BPCL and a driver of the JCB excavating machine, were detained in connection with the incident but later let-off, he said.
Notably, the Centre had last year announced a restructuring plan to close loss-making PSU's non-viable unit at Rasayani in Raigad except the di-nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) plant, which was to be transferred to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
"Prima facie there seems to be no lapses from any quarter," Suryavanshi said, adding that he has directed the chief conservator of forests and the ISRO to conduct a detailed investigation into the causes of gas leakage and lapses, if any.
"A comprehensive probe is being carried out into the incident," the collector said.
The authorities concerned have also been asked to suggest ways to prevent such incidents in the future, he said.
There was no senior officer present at the site on the day of the incident as they had gone for a meeting in Mumbai, he said.
Kadam said the autopsy was conducted by a veterinary doctor in Panvel and some parts were sent to the Haffkine Institute, a premier biomedical research facility, in Mumbai for further examination.
A case was registered under the Wildlife Protection Act, Rasayani police station inspector Ashok Jagdale said.
M R Patil, joint director, DISH, Raigad, told PTI that some part of the premises originally owned by HOCL had been given to BPCL and that the leakage took place from the latter's plant on December 13.
He said DISH officials were camping in the premises and carrying out a probe to find out the cause and extent of the acid leakage.
"The fumes that leaked out of the storage tank might have spread in the atmosphere and caused the mishap," he said, adding the plant has a nitric acid storage tank.
Terming the death of animals as "unnatural", he said there was surely an acid leakage as without that, the death of so many monkeys and pigeons may not be possible under natural circumstances.
"The exact cause of the leakage will be known only after the detailed investigation," he added.
As regards the role of ISRO in the premises, Patil said he was not competent to comment on it.
According to District Disaster Control Officer Sagar Phatak, the plant was shut for some weeks and restarted on Thursday.
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A political legacy, but no win yet: Padmaja Venugopal''s new fight in Thrissur
Thrissur(Kerala) (PTI): Sons of prominent political leaders in Kerala have successfully established themselves in state politics as MPs, MLAs and ministers, even during the peak of their fathers' influence.
Such emergence, however, has been far less common among daughters -- and Padmaja Venugopal is one such exception, although she has not won an election so far.
Padmaja, the daughter of late Congress stalwart and former Chief Minister K Karunakaran, entered electoral politics at a time when "Leader", as he was respectfully known among Congress leaders and workers, was still shaping the course of politics in the state.
Despite contesting from the erstwhile Congress stronghold of Mukundapuram in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, she lost, largely due to the growing factionalism that had gripped the party at the time.
The same factionalism was widely believed to have affected her prospects again when she contested Assembly elections in 2016 and 2021 as a Congress candidate.
This time, however, she is hoping for better fortunes from this central Kerala Assembly constituency-- not as a Congress candidate, but a BJP leader.
Though she quit the Congress in 2024 alleging complete negligence, Padmaja is banking on her family's long political legacy in the state's cultural capital, Thrissur, as well as the BJP's steadily increasing vote share in the region.
The party also secured a significant breakthrough in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning the Thrissur seat with actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi as its candidate.
However, she faces a tough contest in the constituency from the Left candidate Alankode Leelakrishnan and the Congress nominee Rajan Pallan.
While Leelakrishnan, a noted poet and writer, is seeking to continue his party's electoral success in the seat, Pallan is aiming to build on the Congress party's performance in the recent local body elections in the Thrissur Corporation.
Raghunath C Menon, the BJP's Thrissur mandalam president and a corporation councillor, said that Padmaja would "definitely win" this time, as she had lost by only around 900 votes in 2021.
Menon, a close aide of Padmaja, said there are around 1.6 lakh registered voters in the constituency, of whom about 1.2 lakh are expected to cast their votes.
"We need just 45 per cent of the votes to win here, and we are confident of achieving that. The direct contest is between us and the UDF. The CPI candidate is relatively weak," he told PTI.
Binoy Viswam, the CPI state secretary, said that Alankode Leelakrishnan had been fielded from the seat as Thrissur is the cultural capital of Kerala, and a poet was the most suitable choice.
"We should have cultural figures in the Assembly. We want people with diverse talents -- women, activists, youngsters and others -- to represent all sections of society. People have taken him (Leelakrishnan) very seriously," Viswam said.
He added that the LDF would highlight the overall development and welfare initiatives carried out by its government in the constituency over the past decade.
"The CPI won in 2016 and 2021, and its MLAs have done a great deal for the city, which no one can deny," he told PTI.
When asked whether Padmaja’s candidature as the BJP nominee -- in a seat where the party has steadily increased its vote share -- would affect the CPI's chances, Viswam said that "all true believers are with us".
He also asserted, "Whoever contests from there, we will win."
Pallan, the Congress-led UDF candidate, also expressed confidence of victory from the Hindu-majority constituency, saying that the results of the 2021 Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls would not influence the outcome of the April 9 polls.
In 2021, CPI's P Balachandran secured 44,263 votes, with a 34.25 per cent vote share, compared to party candidate V S Sunil Kumar's 53,664 votes and a 42.19 per cent vote share in 2016, according to Election Commission data.
In both years, the BJP's vote share increased--from 6,697 votes in 2011 to 24,748 (19.46 per cent) in 2016 and 40,457 (31.30 per cent) in 2021 -- while the Congress vote declined from 59,991 in 2011 to 46,677 in 2016 and 43,317 in 2021.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, of the 1,31,858 votes polled in the Thrissur Assembly segment, Suresh Gopi secured 55,057 votes -- a 41.75 per cent share -- as per ECI data.
Pallan said the recent local body elections, in which the Congress won the Thrissur Corporation, were a better indicator of the likely outcome in the constituency.
"Of the 40 divisions in the corporation, we won 25. In addition, we already have a lead of over 10,000 votes in the seat," Pallan told PTI.
When asked how the UDF plans to counter Padmaja’s political lineage and the BJP’s growing vote share in Thrissur, Pallan said that while he does not underestimate any candidate, the Congress-led front would emerge victorious.
Menon dismissed the relevance of the recent local body election results, saying it was based on familiarity, but Assembly and parliamentary polls are driven by political considerations.
Padmaja herself recently expressed confidence of victory.
"I am confident of winning from Thrissur as I have faith in the people here. The BJP focuses on winning as a party rather than on individual candidates. That is a great relief for me," she said.
