Tanker was transporting LPG from BPCL plant
to Coimbatore
A leak in an LPG tanker on the National
Highway near Angamaly created a major scare on Monday afternoon. The leak was
detected at Karayampparambu north of Angamaly on the national highway around
1.45 p.m. The tanker was transporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the
BPCL plant in Ambalamugal to Coimbatore.
The tanker was immediately stopped and the
police and the fire force personnel were alerted. Fire trucks from Angamaly fire
station had some difficulty in reaching the scene amidst the confusion and
anxiety among the motorists immediately after the incident was reported.
Soon the police cordoned off the area and
vehicular traffic to either side along the national highway stretch was
stopped. BPCL was also informed about the leak.
“Timely intervention and presence of mind of
our fire fighters along with sheer luck, timing of the incident, and proper and
strict evacuation helped a great deal in preventing the situation from going
out of control. We also received excellent technical support from various
agencies including BPCL and Kochi airport,” T.B. Ramakrishnan, Assistant
Station Officer, Angamaly, said. Two fire trucks and six fire fighters from
Angamaly fire station fought the situation for more than half hour after which
they were joined by fire trucks from various other fire stations within and
outside the district. “We created a water mist to bring down the atmosphere
temperature and created a cool atmosphere to prevent an explosion,” Mr.
Ramakrishnan said. Attempts to plug the leak in the safety release valve using
a seal available in the safety kit in the tanker failed as it didn’t fit in.
By then an industrial technical team from the
oil company reached the scene and took over the situation. Sources said the
safety release valve popped up following a rise in the pressure inside the
tanker. It is a safety mechanism integrated into the tanker to avert an
explosion in the event of a rise in pressure level.
However, the reason for the pressure shoot-up
inside the tanker is unknown. As soon as the pressure stabilised through vapour
release, the valve got reset automatically. The technical team, however,
detected a minor leak even after the safety valve was reset and plugged it with
a seal by around 3.30 p.m. The trip to Coimbatore was abandoned and the tanker
was taken back to the plant at Ambalamugal. Stoppage of vehicular movement for
almost two hours threw the traffic through the national highway completely out
of gear. It was a while before normalcy was restored. People in the locality
also remained in the grip of fear as news about the LPG leak spread. There was
a collective sigh of relief as soon as the leak was plugged and vehicular
movement was restored.
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