Gas leak at pharma unit in Medak leaves workers hospitalised; PCB issues Stop Production Order
Several workers at a pharma unit in Medak district were hospitalised after a suspected gas leak. Telangana State Pollution Control Board has issued a Stop Production Order to Shreeyansh Labs Pvt Ltd
Medak: Several workers of Shreeyansh Labs Private Limited, located in the industrial area of Kucharam village in Manoharabad mandal, fell ill after suspected harmful gases leaked from the facility while machinery was in operation on Tuesday.
The workers rushed out of the plant coughing and gasping for breath. They alleged that the gas had been leaking for the past few days due to pipe damage, but the management failed to act despite being alerted.
The gas leak’s intensity was reportedly so severe that trees in the vicinity had withered. All the affected workers were shifted to a local hospital in ambulances.
Stop Production Order
Following the gas leak incident, the Telangana State Pollution Control Board has issued a Stop Production Order to Shreeyansh Labs Pvt Ltd., Unit – 2.
According to a press release, the Board received a complaint from surrounding industries regarding air pollution caused by the industry due to chlorine leakages. The officials on inspection informed that the chlorine gas leaked from a cylinder at around 9.30 am on Tuesday and was controlled in about 30 minutes.
During inspection, a strong chlorine smell was observed in the surrounding area of the leaked cylinder and the industry had controlled the leakage using water and soil. The traces of chlorine were present in the sand and spread into the surrounding environment.
The PCB said the industry representative informed them there was a power failure at the time of chlorine gas leakage and the DG Set was located adjacent to the cylinder storage area. Hence, they could not start the DG Set immediately for taking control measures.
Stating that this indicated that location of DG Set was not appropriate from a safety point of view, the PCB said the industry has not taken precautionary and adequate control measures to control chlorine gas leakages and caused inconvenience and panic among the workers in the surrounding industries. Considering the seriousness of the incident, the Board issued a Stop Production Order to the unit, the press release added.