Even after 24 hours, no clarity on origin of gas leak at APSEZ

Anakapalle: Even after 24 hours, there is no clarity on the origin of the gas leak that occurred at Seeds Intimate Apparel India Private Limited of the Brandix India Apparel City at Atchutapuram in Anakapalle district.

Close to 200 employees developed uneasiness and complained of nausea, headache, stomach ache and other discomfort and ran out of the workplace after inhaling the toxic gas that leaked on Friday noon.

As many as 190 women employees were admitted to various hospitals for treatment.

Initially, it was assumed that ammonia was leaked from Porus Laboratories, a veterinary drugs company, located about 600-mt away from Seeds Intimate Apparel India at the APSEZ in Atchutapuram. However, the company management denied any such leakage as the Porus employees of the Porus who were present at the point of incident did not complain of any symptom.

On the other hand, the Seeds Intimate Apparel India deals with manufacturing lingerie brands and the management maintained that the unit does not deal with incorporating any toxic gas for manufacturing the brands and that they work with high-end sewing machines and clothes.

Post the incident, Anakapalle District Collector P Ravi Subhash ordered for a detailed report, forming a joint expert committee. However, even after 24 hours of the incident, there is no clarity either on the cause of the incident or the origin of the gas leak. The police are waiting for the report to be submitted by the committee. "The exact origin of the gas leak is yet to be traced. A joint expert committee was formed under the direction of the District Collector. The committee is working on it and soon a report would be submitted," Superintendent of Police Gowthami Sali told The Hans India.

The possibility of any leak from the air-conditioning unit of the apparel park is also being assessed.

If the management of the Porus Laboratories maintains that there's no gas leak from their premises, from where did the toxic emerge? How many companies in the vicinity are incorporating toxic gas for their manufacturing needs? In case the gas leaked from another company, why did the respective management continue to maintain silence over the incident? The answers for many of such queries are expected to emerge from the committee formed to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, 173 women who got affected during the gas leak have been discharged from the hospital and the rest of the victims continue to be under observation.

Following the instructions, Seeds Intimate Apparel India decided to suspend its operation for a while.