GAIL leak: Negligence caused gas mishap
The machine is normally shifted to another pipeline towards Cherlapally
Hyderabad: The accident at the Gas Authority of India Limited facility took place when the “pig” instrument cleaning the pipeline from Visakhapatnam reached the gas station at Suryapet.
The machine is normally shifted to another pipeline towards Cherlapally.
The incident occurred at around 11.45 am when employees started shifting the machine after an assurance that gas supply had been stopped.
While opening the pipeline the gas which remained in the pipeline gushed out under pressure.
The high pressure of the gas blew away the two workers standing at the mouth of the pipeline. “It happened apparently due to mishandling while removing the instrument,” a source added.
The injured were shifted to Metro Hospitals in Suryapet and later to Hyderabad.
Minister G. Jagadish Reddy, deputy superintendent of police Abdul Rasheed and others rushed to the spot.
It is believed that negligence caused the mishap. Usually when the instrument is removed or shifted from the pipeline the reading of gas present in the pipelines on both sides is checked.
It’s only when gas pressure becomes normal that the pipeline is opened and the instrument removed.
Officials at the gas station had not checked gas pressure. In case there was LPG leakage the damage caused would have been immense, locals said.