Kamalgazi gas leak: 'Dist admin to hold meet before allowing factory to reopen'

Kolkata: The unit of a multi-national soft drink manufacturing company at Kamalgazi, off Narendrapur, where ammonia gas leaked, remained closed on Tuesday.

The workers reached the factory at 8 am and found the doors closed. Panic prevailed in vast areas surrounding Kamalgazi after ammonia gas from the factory leaked. People of the nearby premises felt burning sensation in the eyes. The fire brigade and police brought the situation under control.

Senior officials of district administration said senior officials of Police, Fire and Emergency Services department and district administration will hold a meeting before before giving clearance to the management to reopen the factory. They will examine whether the fire fighting devices kept at the factory are in working condition and will give suggestion what more needs to be done.

According to sources, around 4:30 pm on Monday while work was going on in the said soft drinks manufacturing plant, suddenly ammonia gas from a pipeline inside the plant started leaking. Immediately the emergency alarm was raised and the factory was evacuated. Meanwhile, fire brigade and Narendrapur police station were informed. Three fire tenders were pressed into action. District Magistrate of South 24-Parganas, Sumit Gupta had rushed to the spot and took stock of the situation.

Apart from evacuating the employees of the factories, several residents adjacent to the factory were also taken to a safe place.

Meanwhile, fire fighters sprayed water in the air in order to check spread of the gas in the neighbourhood. Around 6:30 pm the source of leakage was identified.