Raisen (MP), Apr 23 (PTI) Natural gas leaked from a plant of state-owned utility GAIL Gas Ltd in Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen district in the early hours of Wednesday, triggering panic in the area, officials said, adding that there was no casualty.

Traffic on the road leading to the plant, located near state capital Bhopal, was stopped as a precautionary measure, they said.

GAIL Gas Ltd said in a statement that the cloud of vapour formed due to the leak was dissipated, and an all-clear was issued around 9.30 am.

A committee was formed to inquire into the cause of the leakage, it said.

The leak was plugged and there was no casualty, officials said.

The incident took place around 2.30 am at the plant in Mandideep industrial town, 35 km from Bhopal, GAIL Gas said in its statement.

Following the leakage, production in all units in the 200-metre periphery was immediately shut down, said Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Chandrashekhar Shrivastava. Traffic on the adjoining road was also stopped, he said.

Teams of government officials are at the GAIL plant and they are making comprehensive security arrangements, said Shrivastava.

Mandideep Industry Association chairman Rajiv Agrawal said it was a `level-3′ gas leak.

The company’s statement said the leakage took place from the L-CNG station and it was brought under control within a few hours.

“No untoward incident was reported…..The company formed a senior-level committee to inquire into the cause of the leakage,” it said.

After the leakage was noticed, the area surrounding the facility was immediately cordoned off and fire safety protocols were activated, the company said.

A vapour cloud formed due to the leakage was “dissipated in a regulated manner after the L-CNG tank was emptied around 9.15 am” and “all-clear was issued soon after,” the statement said.

Emergency response vehicles of GAIL and fire tenders of the district administration, municipality and other agencies reached the site and action was taken to vent natural gas from the L-CNG tanks safely, the company said, adding that water was sprayed continuously in the area to keep it cool.

Senior officials of GAIL Gas, the district administration and police including SDM Shrivastava are at the site. The top management of GAIL is closely monitoring the situation from its Disaster Management Control Room at the National Gas Management Centre in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, the company said. PTI COR ADU GK KRK