A tanker carrying (Liquid Petroleum Gas) LPG fell into a 25 feet deep ditch on Saturday night near Jamsoti Nala of Koderma Valley situated on Koderma-Patna route leading to hours long traffic jam on a stretch of around 40 kms. Vehicular movement was prohibited on this road connecting two Capital cities Patna and Ranchi after the incident in a bid to prevent further accidents.

Koderma Superintendent of Police, M Tamil Banan, informed that the gas tanker was on the way to Fatuha, Bihar from Haldia in West Bengal. “When the tanker was passing the Koderma Valley near Jamsoti Nala on NH 31 the driver lost control over the vehicle and it fell in to 25 feet deep ditch at around 11 pm on Saturday. Once the tanker fell, a valve which seals the cover, broke and the gas from the tanker started leaking. Initially the traffic on this road was partially interrupted, but when the gas spread on a large area the police reached the spot and stopped the movement of vehicles there,” he said.

The SP added, “Due to this, a large numbers of vehicles were stranded on NH 31 through the night. We provided the information about this incident to other Police Stations in the surrounding areas so that they can request vehicle drivers to choose alternative routes like Rajauli and Barhi. While we did manage to prevent many vehicles from being stuck in the jam, but the queue of previously trapped vehicles extended to around 40 kms.”

The police had also called fire brigade to control the situation in case of an accident. Banan further said that the tanker is still in the ditch but there are no casualties. “We are unable to locate the driver of the tanker; he might have fled from the spot. It seems the tanker belongs to Bharat Gas. A team of experts is being called from an LPG plant in Hazaribag to tap the leakage. At present we have made a temporary arrangement by sealing the leakage using M-Seal. The operation of the vehicles started on Sunday morning at around 7 am,” he added.

Jharkhand Bus Owners Association president, Sachchidanand Singh said that many a passenger buses to Patna were delayed due to the accident. “A large number of buses to and from Patna were stranded near the spot and passengers had to face inconvenience. There was more than six hours delay in the buses reaching their destination” he said.