Panic over rumours of fresh gas leak at Brandix

Visakhapatanam: There was panic for a while at the Seeds Intimate India apparel unit in Brandix Apparel India City in Atchutapuram SEZ on Sunday morning.

This was where more than 350 women workers fell sick after inhaling gas on Friday.

“A security guard raised an alarm that he was getting the smell of gas and ran out along with others. Soon, Pollution Control Board officials doing an investigation of the previous gas leak in the vicinity rushed to the spot. They found this was a false alarm,’’ said Collector of Anakapalli Ravi Pattanshetti.

The Collector told Deccan Chronicle that stringent action would be taken against those spreading rumours. An inquiry was on to find out why the security guard raised the alarm, he said.

Deputy chief inspector of factories Satyanarayana quoted the management representatives as saying the security guard told them that he smelt gas between 8.15 am and 8.22 am.

“When we went to check, there was no foul smell,” the management said.

The Collector said the report from Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, where the samples had been sent of the previous incident, would be arriving on Monday.

Meanwhile, a joint committee has also launched its investigation. The committee comprises Joint Collector of Anakapalli, executive engineer of AP PCB, deputy chief inspector of factories, DCP and ACP, Jagannadha Rao and Rajendra Prasad of the chemical engineering department of Andhra University Engineering College, Visakhapatnam, and Air and Gas Solutions managing director Mohammed Yasween.