Nagpur: A biogas leak from a truck carrying 30 cylinders near Tipu Sultan Chowk on Kalamna Road triggered panic in the area on Saturday afternoon, with smoke and a hissing sound from the vehicle prompting the driver to alert Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) fire and emergency services department.Considering the location was near a cancer hospital and a busy junction, firefighters shifted the truck to an open space and inspected the cylinders. The prompt intervention helped avert a potentially serious incident.The truck (MH-40 DC 6114), operated by SusBDe LOC Nagpur Pvt Ltd, was carrying around 600 kg of compressed biogas from the company’s Bhandewadi facility to an outlet in Katol. Truck driver Prashant Shende stopped the vehicle at 2.29 pm after noticing smoke and hearing a loud sound from the rear portion. He swiftly alerted the civic control room.As per a statement issued by Sugat Nagar fire station, a problem in the pipe connected to the cylinders led to the leak. A team from the fire station, led by station officer Sunil Dokre, reached the spot at 2.37 pm.The cylinders were emptied, and firefighters found no further hazardous condition. Company manager Vikas Singhade said there was no loss of life or property. The loss of biogas was estimated to be worth Rs60,000, while the value of the truck and cylinders was estimated at nearly Rs32 lakh.The truck was taken to Yashodhara Nagar police station for further action.The city has witnessed two chlorine gas leak incidents at Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) facilities within a day of each other. On Aug 24, a chlorine leak from a 900 kg standby cylinder at the Godhani water treatment plant (WTP) triggered evacuation of residents and hospitalisation of several people. On Aug 25, another chlorine-related incident was reported at MJP’s Shankarpur.The incident on Saturday has raised questions over safety protocols not only at production facilities but also during transportation of compressed biogas through densely populated parts of the city.SusBDe LOC Nagpur Pvt Ltd, backed by Keva Group and Waste Treatment Technologies, operates a waste-to-energy facility on a 30-acre NMC-owned site at Bhandewadi. The facility has been built to process up to 1,500 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste per day and produces compressed biogas, compost fertiliser and fuel pellets. The biogas is transported in cylinders to different outlets.
