On Monday, a section of the Giaspura neighbourhood in Ludhiana, Punjab, where 11 people are believed to have died from poisonous gas inhalation remained roped off. The district officials said that the affected area completed a nightlong cleaning operation. The Punjab Pollution Control Board teams investigated what may have caused the hydrogen sulphide accumulation in the sewer that may have contributed to the disaster, according to the authorities, who also noted that the deadly gas is no longer detectable in the atmosphere. In the densely populated Giaspura neighbourhood of the city, eleven individuals, including three children, reportedly inhaled hazardous gas on Sunday. High amounts of hydrogen sulphide were found in the air, and investigators believe the source of the gas was a sewer.
A hospital is treating four more patients who became unwell. The event has already been subject to a magisterial probe, and the police have filed a FIR against unidentified individuals. Giaspura has a large migrant population and is densely inhabited. There are a number of commercial and residential structures there. The industrial heart of Punjab is Ludhiana, and all of the casualties were from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Surabhi Malik, the deputy commissioner of Ludhiana, said on Monday that the area had been effectively decontaminated. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force and the municipal corporation monitored the area's ambient air quality throughout Sunday night, but no hydrogen sulphide was found, according to Malik, who spoke to PTI.
At regular intervals, the crews also examined the area's manholes. “Hydrogen sulphide levels in manholes were high during the night, but they have decreased to a lower level after chemical decontamination,” she said. Malik said that experts from the Punjab Pollution Control Board are investigating the causes of the hydrogen sulphide accumulation in the sewer. Sewer gas, commonly known as hydrogen sulphide, is a deadly gas that has a rotten-egg odour and may quickly render a person unconscious and fatal. The authorities had a suspicion that some chemical had been dumped in the local sewage system before the emission of the hazardous gas. According to the deputy commissioner of Ludhiana, a pollution control board team is mapping the local companies to examine the inflow and output of their water.
To determine whether somebody had dumped any chemicals in the sewer, the authorities are also reviewing CCTV camera video. The cordons will be gently decreased, Malik added. About 600 metres of the area had been cordoned off by the authorities. The police have filed a FIR under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against unnamed individuals. On Sunday morning, several customers at a nearby grocery shop who were there to purchase milk began to faint, bringing attention to the situation. While the others were rushed to the hospital, four people passed away immediately. Three members of the family that owned the business and five from another family were among the deceased. Six men and five women were among those who perished.
