Ludhiana gas leak: What led to the death of 11 people in Giaspura?

The NDRF personnel have reached the spot, and the entire area has been sealed. Locals have been asked to move to safer places

Panic gripped Punjab's Ludhiana after an incident of gas leakage was reported at a milk booth facility in its Giaspura locality on Sunday. It led to the death of 11 people, including three children, and four others were batting for their lives in the hospital.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel have reached the spot, and the entire area has been sealed. Locals have been asked to move to safer places.

The officials have also asked the local population to wear masks. President Droupadi Murmu condoled the deaths and tweeted that she was "deeply saddened" by the news. But what caused the gas leak in Ludhiana?

What caused deaths in Ludhiana?

According to Ludhiana's deputy commissioner Surabhi Malik, the deaths are most likely due to gas contamination. Some chemical was most likely dumped into the sewerage through a nearby manhole, and it reacted with the methane gas to form some type of neurotoxins, which when inhaled, led to the deaths.

According to a report by Amar Ujala, the chemicals mixed with methane to make Hydrogen Sulphide gas, which acted as a neurotoxin. 

The NDRF team is collecting samples from the site to ascertain the type of gas that caused the mishap.

Ex-gratia for the victims

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann said that the incident was very sad and added, "Police, government and NDRF teams are present at the spot. All possible help is being provided".

AAP MP from Ludhiana, Sanjeev Arora, said most of the victims belonged to low-income families. He has assured to provide treatment free of cost to the injured people at the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).

The state government will also provide Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia compensation to the deceased's family members, and Rs 50,000 will be provided to the people admitted to the hospital.

Not the first such incident

India has reported several cases of gas leaks in the past. It was the site of one of the worst industrial disasters in history when gas leaked from a pesticide plant in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal in 1984. About 3,500 people, mainly locals living at the Union Carbide plant, died in the days that followed and thousands more in the following years. People still suffer its after-effects now.

In 2022 alone, the country reported at least 10 cases of gas leaks. The biggest among them was reported on June 3, when 178 women workers fell ill following a gas leak at the laboratory in Atchutapuram of Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam.

The workers fell sick after they inhaled the poisonous gas that leaked at Porus Laboratories Pvt Ltd.

In another incident on August 3, 121 women workers were affected after gas was leaked in a garment factory in Andhra's Anakapalli district.