Chlorine gas leak affects scores of people in Aravalli’s Devni Mori village

Palanpur: Hundreds of residents of Devni Mori and adjacent villages in Aravalli district got affected after a cylinder full of chlorine gas leaked on Thursday night. One fire brigade personnel, who was at the spot, fell unconscious and had to be admitted to hospital. Authorities said that the fireman is in stable condition.
According to the officials, the incident occurred at about 11 pm on Thursday when chlorine gas started leaking out of one of the three cylinders kept in Devni Mori village.“The chlorine gas cylinders are used for treating the water that is then supplied to 70 villages,” said Jayanti Parghi, sarpanch of Devni Mori village that earned fame after remains of a Buddhist monastery belonging to the third/fourth century were unearthed from there.
“Such was the intensity of the gas leakage that many residents of Devni Mori and some adjacent villages suffered from burning sensation in eyes for over six hours,” Parghi added. District collector Amritesh Aurangabadkar and other officials rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation along with a team of officials from Aravalli Disaster Management. Reason for the leakage hasn’t been known yet.
“There were several huge underground tanks to supply water to these villages. One of the cylinders that is kept to treat this water got leaked,” said P P Nai, deputy engineer water and sewerage board. The health department has undertaken a survey in the village but locals are scared to even enter their homes.