New Delhi: A day after an incident of a gas leak in Punjab's Ludhiana killed at least 11 people, a technical team has been formed by the Punjab Pollution Control Board to investigate the disposal of all the industry's waste in the area, a senior district official said.
Swati, SDM Ludhiana West, further stated that the situation is being closely monitored and the gas levels are being checked every two hours.
"The situation is under observation. We are monitoring gas levels every 2 hrs. A technical team has been formed by the Punjab Pollution Control Board which will examine the disposal of all the industry's waste here. Investigation is on in the matter. Injured are undergoing treatment," she told ANI.
Eleven people, including three children, died after allegedly inhaling toxic gas in the city's thickly populated Giaspura locality on Sunday, with high levels of Hydrogen sulphide detected in the air and authorities suspecting that it emanated from a sewer.
Police said that the casualties comprise five females and six males. Two boys aged 10 and 13 are among the 11 who died in the incident, they said, as per news agency PTI.
Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik on Monday said the area was successfully decontaminated.
"The whole (Sunday) night, teams of the National Disaster Response Force and the municipal corporation took readings of ambient air quality in the area and Hydrogen sulphide was not detected in the air," Deputy Commissioner Malik told PTI.
The teams also checked the manholes in the area at frequent intervals.
"During the night, the level of Hydrogen sulphide in manholes was high but it has declined to a lower level after chemical decontamination," she further said.
Deputy Commissioner Malik said the Punjab Pollution Control Board teams are checking what led to the buildup of Hydrogen sulphide in the sewer.