BAHAWALNAGAR: Eighteen people were hospitalised and many more were affected by ammonia gas leakage from an ice factory running illegally in a residential area of Minchinabad.

District Emergency Officer Rao Sharafat said following the incident on Monday night at about 7:30pm, rescuers entered the factory using safety gadgets and controlled the gas leakage by closing the main valve of the gas cylinder.

The incident took place in the Habib Ice Factory, Railway Road, Bhutto Colony, when an addict broke into the factory and jammed the valve of the cylinder in an attempt to steal it, District Officer Civil Defence Arshad Hameed said.

He revealed that the man escaped when the ammonia gas started leaking from the valve. He claimed that it was a civil defence team that first responded to the emergency, sealed the factory, repaired the valve by hiring technicians and controlled the gas leakage. However, by then the gas had spread to the nearby locality, he added, claiming that the number of the affectees was more than a dozen.

Unit was illegally running in residential area of Minchinabad; FIR registered on environment department’s complaint

Sources said the gas leakage created panic in the area and forced a number of people to run away to other areas in a bid to avoid the gas effects. They claimed that more than 18 people, affected by ammonia, had been treated at the Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital, Minchinabad, and the figure was gradually increasing.

A press release issued by Rescue 1122 said they had shifted nine people, including two women and four children, to hospital. However, according to reports, other people were shifted to the hospital by their families.

Muhammad Shahid, an official at the Minchinabad THQ Hospital, said 18 patients, including a rescue official, Nauman who was part of the rescue team, had been treated in the emergency ward of the hospital.

He said the affectees were still visiting the hospital and added that the condition of all affectees, except a minor girl, was out of danger.

Dr Zaigham Shah of the hospital told Dawn there were chances that the people affected by ammonia might get reactions again within a day or two after treatment. He said the patients could feel severe suffocation and in such a state they should immediately consult a doctor. He said the patients who had already undergone treatment but had breathing issues again were coming back to the THQ.

Liquid ammonia is used as refrigerant in ice plants as it takes lot of energy from the surroundings to vaporise. Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in air causes immediate burning of the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory tract and can result in blindness, lung damage or even death in severe cases. Inhalation of lower concentrations can cause coughing, and nose and throat irritation.

Following the gas leakage incident, the locals gathered outside the factory and held a protest against the administration and factory owners.

Talking to the media persons, they said that despite repeated written complaints, the administration was reluctant to take action against the factory owners. They demanded the immediate shutting down of the units running in the residential area and their shifting out of the city.

The sources told Dawn almost a dozen ice factories, most of them unregistered, were operating in the residential areas by violating all the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and security measures with the connivance of local administration, including the Civil Defence and environment department. They said the gas leakage incidents often happened due to substandard material used in making cylinders. They said the environment department was responsible for checking the licenses and the condition of the units while the Civil Defence was responsible for the security measures taken in the units, adding that all 12 units running in the city were not only unregistered but were also violating all the SOPs.

DO Civil Defence Arshad Hameed said they were only responsible for security measures in the units and they had already served notices to the said unit for not adopting proper security measures but the environment department should take action about the mechanical fault or leakage.

District Officer (Environment) Muhammad Babar did not respond to the calls or messages.

However, an official of his department, while requesting anonymity, told Dawn that more than 10 units were illegally running in the city without adopting proper guidelines of the departments. He said apart from the environment department, the AC office was also responsible for stopping the illegal units.

Minchinabad Assistant Commissioner Ahmad Javed Cheema said he was on 20 days leave.

DSP Minchinabad Hasan Jatoi said a case had been registered against the factory owner on the charges of criminal negligence after completing an investigation into the incident. The FIR was registered on the complaint of the environment department under sections of the PPC alleged that the incident happened because of the negligence of the factory administration.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2023