Many still haven't sent their kids back to school after 450 students had to be hospitalised following a toxic gas leak from nearby Inland Container Depot on May 6
Ashok Kumar, 47, has been walking to every corner of the Railway Colony in Tughlakabad daily since 1998. Kumar sells vegetables and was one of the few who first noticed the May 6 gas leak that affected over 450 students.
The students had to be rushed to hospital after a gas leak from a nearby Inland Container Depot left some of them unconscious and others fighting with nausea and irritation in eyes. The toxic fumes spread over the entire area, with two schools located in the vicinity being affected the most.
A five-member expert team from AIIMS, which visited the spot, has said the residents in the area were living on a ticking bomb. The team was formed after Union Minister JP Nadda alerted all the Central government hospitals.
The residents, meanwhile, have been living in the shadow of fear. "Anything can happen any day. Even that day, suddenly we started to feel an itch in our eyes," said Kumar, who hails from Bihar.
"This is very scary. I have not sent my daughter to school since the incident. She is also scared. Her eyes still itch," Railway Colony resident Meenakshi said.
On Monday, the Delhi Police had issued notices to various parties involved to join the probe related to the leak. In addition, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to the Ministry of Environment and Forest, the Delhi government, the Railway Board, and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), and asked them to file their replies within a week.
The Inland Container Depot in Tughlakabad, situated near the Okhla Industrial Area, is one of the largest hubs of multi-modal transport in the Indian sub-continent. It is spread over 44 hectares of land, catering to importers and exporters all over the country. Four full-length rail lines have been laid in the Customs area, which bring the containers by train from gateway ports such as Mumbai, Nhava Sheva, Chennai, besides bringing containers by road from ports such as Haldia, Calcutta, and Kandla.
GAS LEAK IN TUGHLAKABAD
Nearly 450 girl students were hospitalised on May 6, after toxic fumes spread due to leakage in a container depot near the two schools in southeast Delhi’s Tughlakabad area
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