Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MS)

Mangaluru, Feb 23: Ammonia leakage from an ice plant at Kulai near here caused anxiety and panic among the public on the morning of Saturday. After a marathon five hours of leakage control operation by fire service personnel of NMPT and experts from MCF, the situation was brought under control.

Representational Image

Locals called the Suratkal police station as soon as they notice the leakage and strong odour of Ammonia. Responding to the SOS call by the public Suratkal police rushed to the spot, vacated the nearby residents and called fire service personnel for help. Fire service personnel of NMPT arrived at the spot and sprayed water continuously to control the leakage. However, this did not yield the desired result as they did not have any specialized equipment to deal with such a situation.

Experts from MCF factory were called in to contain the ammonia leakage. They controlled the leakage using chemical resistant equipment. This ice plant is operating in this area for many years and maintenance of the same is being done periodically. This leakage in the ammonia was sudden and unexpected.

Leakage of ammonia causes eye irritation and breathing difficulty to people who are living or working nearby the area. So the police got the residents shifted before the operation to contain the leakage started. The operation got delayed as the gauge showing the amount of ammonia in storage was not working. Even the rescue personnel had to put up with eye irritation and throat dryness.

The flower that had blossomed in the compound of the ice plant got faded due to the leakage. After five hours of operation, the leakage was controlled.