TERMING THE INCIDENT AS HEART WRENCHING AND UNFORTUNATE, HE INFORMED THAT A FIRST INFORMATION REPORT (FIR) HAS BEEN REGISTERED AGAINST UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS AND INVESTIGATIONS ARE ON TO FIND THE CULPRIT. HE DIRECTED THE POLICE OFFICIALS TO ENSURE THAT THE MATTER BE THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED. LAW AND ORDER IN THE CITY IS TO BE MAINTAINED AT EVERY COST, HE ADDED.
Akhilesh Bansal/Ludhiana
Eleven people people reported died due to gas leakage on Sunday morning at a Kirana Store and Milk Boother in Giaspura area here early morning resulting death of which include 5 women, 4 men and 2 children aged from 10 to 13 years. The incident took place in Gyaspura Industrial area of mid city.
Meanwhile taking cognisance of the Giaspura Gas leak incident in Ludhiana, Special Director General of Police (DGP) Law and Order Arpit Shukla on Sunday visited the area to supervise the overall situation.
Special DGP Arpit Shukla, who was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ludhiana Surbhi Malik, Commissioner of Police (CP) Ludhiana Mandeep Singh Sidhu and Municipal Corporation Commissioner Sheena Aggarwal, held a meeting with senior Police and District Administration officials.
Terming the incident as heart wrenching and unfortunate, he informed that a first information report (FIR) has been registered against unidentified persons and investigations are on to find the culprit. He directed the Police Officials to ensure that the matter be thoroughly investigated. Law and order in the city is to be maintained at every cost, he added.
He said that magestarial inquiry has also been ordered to investigate this incident. The chief engineer from Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has already collected samples from the spot, he added.
He said the team of NDRF was called in and gas levels are being checked at regular intervals.
Meanwhile, an FIR has been registered under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Police Station Sahnewal.
Ludhiana West's SDM Swati said that 12 people fainted after the gas leak and were taken to 3 different hospitals in the city whereas 8 people were discharged while 4 people are admitted in the hospital.
Medical, fire brigade, police and NDRF teams reached the spot after the incident. Immediately after the accident, the administration sealed an area of one kilometer around the building and evacuated people living there as a precautionary measure. Ludhiana West MLA Rajinderpal Kaur said that the milk booth in the building was open and anyone who went here in the morning to get milk fell unconscious.
Ludhiana DC Surabhi Malik said that the families of the 11 people who died will be given Rs 2 lakh each by the Punjab government. Those who are admitted in the hospital, they will be given an amount of 50-50 thousand rupees. The government will also bear the expenses of the treatment of these people.
Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh reached the spot around 4 pm and said, accident happened due to sewerage gas. Initial investigation shows signs of hydrogen sulfide. The stench is still emanating from the whole area. NDRF teams were engaged to ensure that the gas does not spread further. People will not be allowed to come here until the entire area is made safe.(SUBHEAD)
Among those who lost their lives in the grip of gas, the owner of Kariana shop Saurav Goyal (35), his wife Preeti (31) and mother Kamlesh Goyal (60), besides Dr. Kavilash (40), his wife Varsha ( 35), daughter Kalpana (16) and two sons Abhay Narayan (13) and Aryan Narayan (10). Apart from Navneet Kumar (39) and Neetu Devi (39), there is one more man among the three other dead, whose identity could not be found till afternoon. Postmortem of those who died will be done on Monday by forming a medical board.
Apart from these, a total of 4 people are admitted in the hospital. Of these, Gaurav Goyal (50) and Nitin (40) are being treated at Civil Hospital and Rajesh Kumar (28) and Ruby Devi (29) are being treated at Oswal Hospital.
After the accident, medical workers and local people took the dead bodies and the sick to the hospital. People fainted even in the houses around the building.
There is a densely populated area around the Kirana shop near which this accident took place on Sua Road in Gyaspura area.
Police said, within a radius of 300 meters, many people were found lying unconscious in the streets and houses. The people of the nearby dhabas also fainted. The administration launched a search operation in the entire area with the help of drones. Ludhiana Police Commissioner Mandeep Sidhu, who reached the spot, told that all the people have been evacuated from the building where the incident took place.
A person named Kapil Kumar living in the area told that 5 people of his family have died. Kapil told that when the gas leaked, all the family members were sleeping.
Police Commissioner Mandeep Sidhu told that this could happen due to acid in the sewer or the presence of some chemical inside could be the reason for this gas. However, something can be said formally only after the completion of the investigation.
Engineer Kapil Arora of Ludhiana, told that the rescue teams reached the spot without any safety gears. The impact of leakage might have been decreased but it may still have bad impact on the internal organs and eyes. We live in a Smart City where the fire department, sewerage board, NDRF team etc. all are ill-equipped but the teams are still risking their lives to save the lives of other. And the Head of all Concenred departments are directly responsible for their failure in providing safety gears to the Real Heroes. When the area is being evacuated now to save the residents, why there is no proper safety gears for the rescue teams.
