Submitted by:

Pralayakaveri Yogendra Varma,

22MSH0098,
SAS,
VIT, Vellore

Introduction
In India, chemical incidents involving dangerous substances are frequent. The
National Disaster Management Guidelines - Chemical (Industrial) Disaster
Management, published in May 2007, list more than 25 instances. On the morning
of July 14, 2010, almost at three in the morning, a chlorine leak was reported from
a gas cylinder known as a turner, weighing about 650 kg, corroding with time at
the Haji Bunder hazardous cargo warehouse in Mumbai Port Trust, Sewri,
affecting over 120 people in the neighbourhood, including students, labourers,
port workers, and fire fighters, of whom 70 were reported to be in critical
condition. The violation of safety and environmental protection laws as well as the
failure to maintain failsafe conditions at the site necessary for chlorine storage
have all been noted to be apparent examples of ignorance and neglect. The
investigation found important holes in the availability of neutralisation
mechanisms, and chlorine stored outdoors increased the likelihood of invasion
mixture creation as a result of chlorine-filled tankers blowing up. In accordance
with the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the Government of
India has established emergency preparedness frameworks at the national, state,
and district levels in order to position the country to lessen such occurrences in
the event that all other safety precautions are ineffective. Based on national
guidelines, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is creating a national
action plan for chemical disaster management that will be implemented
nationwide.

Learnings from Observations

It is a flagrant instance of negligence and ignorance, as well as a violation of the
safety and environmental safeguard laws and the site's failure to maintain failsafe
conditions. The serious incidence of leakage can be attributable to the following
causes. 1) In accordance with the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986 and the
Manufacture, Storage, and Import of Hazardous Chemicals (MSIHC) rules, 1989[5],
the imported cylinders that were left out in the open should have only been
accepted for delivery as empties if the residual chlorine had been completely
evacuated at the facility in the exporting country, here in Mumbai as created in
the vicinity of the port, or with assistance obtained from a chlorine manufacturing
or user industry having cement.

Cylinders with residual chlorine should not have been piled outdoors where there
was a chance that the temperature and pressure might rise and cause a cylinder
to rupture according to the rules established for the aforementioned parameters
until this was done. 2) The neutralisation tank, which should have been in
continuous operation, should have been connected to the storage area's suction
pipelines and suction hoods. 3) Cylinders should have been imported with
approval from the Chief Controller of Explosives and certification from a
competent authority on the residual life as well as the current state of soundness
certified through Non Destructive Testing (NDT), such as hydraulic testing,
thickness survey, and radiography of the welded joints (CCE).

Managing Chlorine Leaks

The compressed form of chlorine gas is kept in cylinders (around 400 V of gas is
compressed to 1 V), and in the event of a leak, liquefied gas is released, absorbing
heat from the surrounding environment to evaporate. In order to reduce the
impact of ambient temperature, the yard of chlorine cylinders is therefore
covered as a safety measure. Additionally, the area around the cylinder yard is
continuously cooled by placing high-pressure water nozzles to produce a water
blanket. This would aid in lowering the rate of evaporation and the production of
cryogenic stresses; should plans be made to distribute foam on the leaking
compressed gas, the evaporation would be further lowered. As a safety measure,
the leak in gaseous form is gathered with the use of suction devices that draw the
leakage in gas form and transport it to the neutralisation tank, which is kept
running 24 hours a day and where a backup power source is also provided.

The safety requirement for the 141 cylinders that are stacked at the incident
location is to instal monitors around the yard's perimeter, as well as a set-up for
an anemometer to determine the wind's direction and speed and a public address
system to communicate with the nearby people. When it was not ruled out that
cylinders had residual or more chlorine gas that escaped even after storage for
more than a decade, none of the aforementioned measures were seen to be
provided. The next area of concern was keeping the cylinders in an unattended
state in the open, where it was possible that the mixture could seep in. As the leak
developed, it was possible that corrosion in the cylinder, the fusible plug giving
way, or a leak had formed in a wall because moist chlorine is extremely corrosive
and can corrode the containing vessel.

Community risk management

A community is a group of people who may have one or more things in common,
such as living in the same environment, being exposed to similar risks, having
experienced hazards, having similar difficulties, and having similar worries and
aspirations about risks and resources. When a hazard affects a community, risk
may result. The risk is too high if there are insufficient abilities, resources, and
preparation, if there are too many flaws, and if the scope of the hazard is too vast.
Building capacity and addressing fundamental causes are essential components
of a comprehensive strategy for managing community risk that will ultimately
lower overall risk.

Managing the threat's source and empowering the community are basic risk
management strategies. Catastrophic risk must be exported significantly from the
local setting. One of the main goals of disaster management is to create a
community at large that is knowledgeable, resilient, and ready to deal with
disasters with the least amount of loss of life while yet providing enough care for
the survivors. The most crucial tool for managing risk and disaster is people's own
coping mechanisms and abilities to bounce back from, recover from, and adapt
to the hazards they confront. Local teams that are well-prepared can save more
lives during abrupt crises where every second counts. Resilience of a community
comprises its capacity to prepare for calamities and respond swiftly and
effectively when they occur.