In two separate road mishaps in the neighbouring Thane and Raigad districts, an ammonia-laden tanker overturned along the Mumbra bypass and several lPG cylinders blew up in a head-on collision between two trucks on the Mumbai-Goa highway on Sunday, triggering panic among the residents in the area and resulting in evacuation of affected people in one of the incidents.
Following the Ammonia gas leak, people living in Sainiknagar and Kausa were shifted to safer places in the neighbourhood. Three persons, including drivers of the two trucks, were injured in the second incident.
Fortunately, there were no causalities in both incidents which would have claimed several lives but for the timely intervention by the fire brigade personnel and police.
In the first incident, a bulk ammonia tanker carrying 1,450 tonnes of chemical overturned and fell in a nullah near Sainiknagar off Mumbra toll plaza close to the bypass in the neighbouring Thane district at around 2.45 am. After the bulk carrier overturned, the valve ruptured resulting in leakage of ammonia gas which enveloped the area surrounding the mishap site.
The chemical tanker was on its way from Surat in Gujarat to the industrial township in the neighbouring Raigad district, when the mishap took place.
Within minutes of the ammonia gas leak, disaster management teams from the Thane Municipal Corporation rushed to the scene, isolated the mishap spot and evacuated people from Sainiknagar and Kausa to safer places in the neighbourhood.
After inhaling ammonia leaked from the turned tanker, the people living in the vicinity of mishap complained of nausea, uneasiness and irritation in eyes.
The TMC requisitioned the help of experts from the fertilizers units at Taloja, where the tanker was headed, to combat the situation. The fire brigade personnel had restored normalcy in the area by the afternoon.
In the second incident that took place near Hamrapur junction on the Mumbai-Goa highway near Pen in Raigad district, two trucks collided at around 4 am resulting in explosion of lPG cylinders that one of the vehicles was carrying.
Reports reaching here said that a huge fireball was seen in the dark and hazy skies by the people living on either side of the highway near Hamirpur junction, as lPG cylinders blew up exploded one after another after the two trucks collided.
While the driver of the truck carrying lPG cylinders was injured, another woman was injured when a cylinder flew up and fell on the roof of her house located in the vicinity of the mishap site. The two drivers have been admitted to two nearby hospitals.