Ludhiana gas leak: Night-long efforts undertaken to decontaminate affected area, says official
Chandigarh (PTI): A portion of the Giaspura locality in Punjab's Ludhiana where 11 people died allegedly after inhaling toxic gas remained cordoned off on Monday while the district authorities said the affected area underwent a night-long decontamination process.
Teams of the Punjab Pollution Control Board checked what led to the buildup of Hydrogen sulphide in the sewer that might have led to the tragedy, the officials said, adding that the poisonous gas is no longer being detected in the air.
Eleven people, including three children, died after allegedly inhaling toxic gas in the city's thickly populated Giaspura locality on Sunday, with high levels of Hydrogen sulphide detected in the air and authorities suspecting that it emanated from a sewer.
Four more people who were taken ill are undergoing treatment at a hospital.
A magisterial inquiry has already been ordered into the incident and the police have registered an FIR against unknown persons.
Giaspura is a thickly populated area with a migrant population. Several industrial and residential buildings are located there. All the victims belonged to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and had been staying in Ludhiana -- Punjab's industrial hub.
Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik on Monday said the area was successfully decontaminated.
"The whole (Sunday) night, teams of the National Disaster Response Force and the municipal corporation took readings of ambient air quality in the area and Hydrogen sulphide was not detected in the air," Malik told PTI.
The teams also checked the manholes in the area at frequent intervals.
"During the night, the level of Hydrogen sulphide in manholes was high but it has declined to a lower level after chemical decontamination," she further said.
Malik said the Punjab Pollution Control Board teams are checking what led to the buildup of Hydrogen sulphide in the sewer.
Hydrogen sulphide, also called sewer gas, is a poisonous gas that smells of rotten eggs and can lead to fast unconsciousness and death.
The officials had suspected that the poisonous gas was released after some chemical was disposed of in the sewerage in the area.
A pollution control board team is mapping industries located in the area to check the inlet and outlet of their water, the Ludhiana deputy commissioner said.
The authorities are also checking CCTV camera footage to see if anybody had disposed of any chemicals in the sewer.
Malik said, "The cordons will be reduced carefully."
The authorities had cordoned off around 600 metres of the area.
The police have registered an FIR under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code against unidentified persons.
The incident came to light on Sunday morning when some people who came to a local grocery store to buy milk started fainting. Four persons died on the spot while the others were rushed to the hospital.
Among the dead were three members of the family that owned the store and five from another. Five women and six men were among the dead.
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BJP workers protest Bengaluru event on Umar Khalid, taken into preventive custody
Bengaluru (PTI): BJP workers, led by former Bengaluru Mayor M Gautham Kumar, staged a protest outside the heavily fortified BIC in the city on Tuesday ahead of an event.
The editors of the book “Umar Khalid and His World” have planned a reading of excerpts from the book at the venue, followed by a discussion involving several “historians and intellectuals”.
The BJP activists raised slogans demanding the cancellation of the event. They attempted to enter the venue by breaking through the barricades put up by the police.
Police personnel deployed at the spot took the BJP workers into preventive custody.
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The party had on Monday petitioned Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh seeking cancellation of the event organised in support of activist Umar Khalid.
A delegation of BJP leaders led by Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan met the commissioner and submitted a memorandum in this regard.
Khalid is currently in jail in connection with allegations of conspiracy in the 2020 Delhi riots.
In a post on ‘X’ earlier in the day, the Karnataka BJP alleged that while courts are still hearing cases related to anti-national activities, the Congress-backed ecosystem is busy glorifying individuals who aim to divide Bharat.
“Why is Bengaluru being turned into a hub for celebrating such elements? Is this the ‘cultural contribution’ the Siddaramaiah government wants to promote? Our city is a land of innovators and patriots, not a playground for the ‘Tukde Tukde’ (divisive) narrative,” it alleged.
The Supreme Court on April 20 dismissed Khalid’s plea seeking review of a verdict denying him bail, observing that there are reasonable grounds to believe the allegations against him in connection with the conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots.
The court had earlier said there was a prima facie case against Khalid and Sharjeel Imam (another accused) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), noting that prosecution material suggests their involvement in the “planning, mobilisation, and strategic direction” of the riots.
The February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi broke out during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), leaving 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
