Chemical Accident Rules In India, 5 Gas Leak Accidents

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5 GAS LEAK ACCIDENTS

In October 2018, 9 people died and 14 were injured in a blast at the Bhilai Steel Plant of SAIL in Chhattisgarh.
The explosion took place in a gas pipeline.
Authorities revealed that there had been uneven pressure in the gas pipeline for the past few days.

In May 2017, more than 300 students of Rani Jhansi Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Tughlaqabad, Delhi, were hospitalised after a gas leak near their school.
The authorities claimed that this was a chemical leakage at the customs area of Tughlaqabad depot.

March 2017, 4 people were killed and 15 were injured in Shivrajpur, Kanpur, after an ammonia gas leak caused a powerful blast in a cold storage unit.
The blast resulted in a building collapse, and more than 25 people were trapped.
The facility was used to store potatoes.

In June 2014, 15 people were killed and 18 were injured when a fire broke out in Andhra Pradesh’s Godavari district after gas leak from a pipeline owned by GAIL.
The fire spread over a 1-km radius, and people rushed out of their houses that were engulfed in flames.

The Bhopal gas tragedy is called the ‘worst industrial accident’ in history.
In December 1984, over 45 tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaked from an insecticide plant.
Owned by American firm Union Carbide Corporation, killing between 15,000 and 20,000 people in the city.
Over half a million survivors suffered from respiratory problems, irritation in the eye, and blindness.
Later, investigations revealed that the leakage had occurred due to substandard safety procedures at the understaffed

Following the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster,
To regulate the manufacturing, use, and handling of hazardous chemicals, MoEF notified two sets of rules –
Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals (MSIHC) Rules, 1989.
Chemical Accidents (Emergency Planning, Preparedness, and Response), (CAEPPR) Rules, 1996.

The main objectives of the MSIHC Rules are-
To prevent major chemical accidents arising from industrial activities and
Limit the effects of chemical (industrial) accidents.
In addition, as prescribed by the MSIHC Rules, 1989,
The occupiers of Major Accident Hazard (MAH) units are responsible for the preparation of on-site Emergency Plans.
While the Chief Inspector of Factories (CIFs) in consultation with district authorities are required to prepare off-site emergency plans as well.

The CAEPPR Rules, 1996 provide-
The statutory backup for crisis management set-up and
Prescribe criteria for identification of Major Accident Hazard (MAH) installations.
All districts with such installations are required to establish crisis management groups.