The report submitted by sub-divisional magistrate (SDM, West) Harjinder Singh regarding the Ludhiana gas tragedy states that no one was responsible for the gas leak. This report was recently submitted to the fact-finding committee by SDM Singh. This gas tragedy claimed the lives of 11 people, including women and children.
As per the report, it was found by the officials involved in the magisterial investigation that no one has been specifically held accountable for the tragedy. This gas tragedy happened on April 30 in the Giaspura area of Ludhiana. As per National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the release of hydrogen sulphide gas was the “possible reason” that caused the incident.
The investigation concluded by stating that there is no solid evidence to establish whether the tragedy was caused by an unexpected unnatural industrial discharge or structural inconsistencies of sewer systems at those locations were to blame.
The report stated, “It is understood that all of the chemical reactions are plausible, even simultaneously with the right ambient conditions. Determining which of these effects would have dominated at the point would be largely speculative and probable in nature”.
According to the report, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), in its second interim report, has highlighted several water-polluting companies that are more than 100 meters away from the site and have previously committed violations. Both the Municipal Corporation report and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report make notice of the high likelihood that acidic effluents could result in the production of hydrogen sulphide gas.
Although, the report states, “Such plausible sporadic discharge, leading to building up over time, combined with the peculiar sewer conditions, lack of sewer vents and past rainfall vents could have jointly led to the creation of a set of conditions that facilitated a deadly chemical reaction that precipitated in the sudden release of gas”.
The investigation also said that Goyal Kirana Store’s sewer connection was installed improperly, resulting in the reverse ventilation of hydrogen sulphide gas in their home. This resulted in the death of the owner of the store, Sourav Goyal (35), his wife, Preety (31) and his mother, Kamlesh Goyal (60).
The report highlights, “The sewer opening was basin drain may have acted as a reverse ventilation pipeline dissipation of the gas in the affected premises. Poor ventilation systems, particularly in the affected houses, might have affected the dissipation of gas and have aggravated the situation. No fatality was observed due to any dissipation of the gas in the main sewer line which was near the other end of the road”.
According to the report, the incident happened in a relatively small section of the main sewer line at the other end. The report further states, “As the sewer lines of the all three affected houses are interconnected, the possibility of hitting the inspection chamber by someone with some stick/chemical thereby disturbance of the traps and leading to sudden dissipation of gas cannot be ruled out”.
Three interim reports from PPCB were included in the magisterial report by the joint team, and these interim reports revealed that out of 113 industries overall, just 17 were found to be contaminating water. Out of these 17 industries, 14 industries were using acid.
The report states, “None of the 13 industries was observed to be discharging any acidic effluent into the sewer line by the joint team of PPCM/MCL at the time of the visit. No acid-consuming industry was found within 100 meters distance from the place of incident”.
SDM Harjinder Singh submits the report to the fact-finding committee. According to Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik, the report’s final version is yet to be forwarded by the fact-finding committee to the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
After the incident, NGT formed an eight-member fact-finding joint committee in May headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and directed Rs 20 lakhs compensation to the victims and family of the deceased.
