NEW DELHI, Feb 15: Sixteen students of a government school fell sick at Gadepan village in Rajasthan’s Kota district on Saturday after ammonia gas leaked from a plant of Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited (CFCL) situated nearby.
The children complained of nausea and fainted after inhaling the gas with sharp suffocating odour.
The children were rushed to the CFCL hospital, from where some of them were referred to J.K. Lone Mother and Child Hospital in Kota. State Education Minister Madan Dilawar said five students were discharged after primary aid, five others were admitted to CFCL hospital and six others were hospitalised in Kota. Gadepan is situated 35 km from Kota.
The impact of the gas leak was felt when some students went to the school grounds to fetch water and started complaining of breathlessness and pain in the abdomen. The school and the CFCL factory share common boundaries. When the condition of the students deteriorated, school staff rushed them to the hospital in their own vehicles.
The government senior secondary school’s principal Ranjana Sharma said the gas leak occurred just after the morning assembly had ended, and the number of affected students increased rapidly in the next 30 minutes. Kota Collector Ravindra Goswami, who reached Gadepan by afternoon, said he had asked the State Pollution Control Board to send its team for investigating the matter.
Six medical teams were formed to conduct health check-ups among the schoolchildren and villagers. Mr Goswami said all the students hospitalised in Gadepan and Kota were out of danger. “The cause of the gas leak will be revealed after investigation,” he said.
The school was closed and the children were sent home as a precautionary measure after the incident, which created panic in the village. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, elected from Kota, enquired about the matter from the district administration. Kota South MLA Sandeep Sharma and BJP district president Rakesh Kumar Jain reached J.K. Lone Hospital to meet the students.
Education Minister Dilawar said two teachers had been deployed at J.K. Lone Hospital for taking care of the students admitted there. “We are monitoring the situation… Full investigation will be carried out and strict action will be taken against CFCL if its negligence is proved.” he said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
