Probe into gas leak in Shelar village

MUMBAI, OCTOBER 8: Chlorine from a dye manufacturing plant leaked into the flood waters which engulfed Shelar village in Bhiwandi taluka ...

MUMBAI, OCTOBER 8: Chlorine from a dye manufacturing plant leaked into the flood waters which engulfed Shelar village in Bhiwandi taluka recently sending nearly 8,000 residents into safer grounds five kms away.

The dangerous chemical leaked from a storage vessel in Vinayak Dyeing Mills on September 17. The company regularly releases waste into the nearby river Kamavari and the village gutters and nauseous gas into the atmosphere. Villagers complained of giddiness, vomiting and sore throat. Some were treated in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) and Primary Health Centre at Honi village about 15 kms from Shelar.

Police arrested owner of the company, Savarmal Malkiram Tibrewal (46) and the manager, Samudra Singh Gagan Shekawat on charges of `negligence’ on September 19. Bhiwandi Chief Judicial Court released the duo on bail the same day.

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Domestic animals were also severly affected due to the leakage of the chemical. Ananda Varghade, the only dairy owner, lost two buffaloes after they drank water fromthe Kamavari, the only source of drinking water.

Dr Sontakke of the IGMH confirmed the leakage of highly toxic chemical adding that any further leakage would have proved fatal. Meanwhile, the affected have been discharged from the hospitals.

Villagers and members of the Shelar gram panchayat submitted a memorandum on September 27 to the police, the tehsildar, the Collector and Home Minister seeking eviction of the chemical company from the village.

An enquiry is being held into the leakage by the circle officer who will submit his report to the tehsildar on October 12.