LPG leak from tanker disrupts highway traffic for two hours

A damaged measurement valve led to the leakage of liquified petroleum gas from a tanker carrying 15 tonnes of the gas on the wee hours of Tuesday on Pune Mumbai highway in Fugewadi. This also resulted in a two-hour traffic snarl on the highway.

A fire brigade team from the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation took the Bharat Petroleum Company tanker to an isolated place and fixed it temporarily. The pressurised gas started leaking from the tanker after its Rota Valve on the left side of the tanker hit a tree branch on its way at 3.30 am. Kiran Gawade,chief fire officer with the PCMC,said,“When the pressurised gas releases suddenly,it comes out in the form of fumes. We kept spraying water on the damaged Roto Valve to avoid formation of air LPG lean mixture which is very hazardous. We also stopped the traffic on the highway. After we got the call at 3.50 am,we reached the spot about 4 am.”

The officers from BPCL came to the spot at 5.15 am. Gawade said,“Immediately after the team arrived we decided to move the tanker to an isolated position and then fix the valve so that traffic flow could resume. We moved the tanker to a nearby ground at 5.30 am. We also alerted the citizens. As the responsibility of the commercial product lies with the one who produces it,we had to wait for the rescue team till 9.30 which came with no preparation for fixing the leakage. We on our own decided to fix the damaged valve with M-seal and Plaster of Paris (POP) combination.”

The half-inch broad crack was then plastered temporarily with the two substances at 10.30. “We had to first break the dry ice like formation that had got formed around the valve. We then escorted the tanker towards the highway.” Gawade added.