Bhubaneswar: At least four workers lost their lives and six had to be rushed to the hospital after falling ill due to a gas leakage from a unit at Rourkela Steel Plant on Wednesday. The incident once again raised questions on the safety standards followed at the industrial units in India. Over the years, and in the last decade itself, a number of incidents related to deadly gas leakage have been reported from various parts of India. Only last year, a gas leak in Vishakhapatnam killed seven and injured over 1,000. Odisha: Gas Leak in Rourkela Steel Plant, 4 Workers Dead.

The country has seen some of the worst gas leakage incidents in the world. As industrialisation has grown over the years, and with more and more workers joining the workforce, the safety measures in place for avoiding poisonous gas leakage looks inadequate, at least in some plants and sectors.

Below are some of the worst gas leakage incidents in India

2020 Vizag Gas Leakage: The morning of May 7, 2020 brought misfortune and tragedy as leakage of styrene gas at LG Polymers’ in Visakhapatnam plant killed 11 persons and injured over a 1,000 people. The accidental leakage at the Korean company was one of the worst in recent times.

2018 Bhilai Steel Plant Blast: Nine people lost their lives and 14 others were injured after a blast at the Bhilai Steel Plant of state-owned SAIL in 2018. All nine people died on the spot.

2014 GAIL Pipeline Blast:  A ferocious fire that broke on June 27, 2014 at Nagaram in Andhra Pradesh in the  gas pipeline maintained by GAIL killed 15 and injured over 40 others. The fire in the underground pipeline had also engulfed houses and vehicles near the site.

2014 Bhilai Steel Plant Gas Leak: In June 2014, six persons died and over 40 injured after leakage in a methane gas pipeline at a water pump house in  Chhattisgarh's Durg district.

Bhopal Gas Tragedy, 1984: Considered one of the world’s worst industrial disasters, the Bhopal gas tragedy was a result of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals getting leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Close to 4,000 lost their lives (over 15,000 are claimed dead) and over 5,00,000 were exposed to the deadly gases.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 06, 2021 03:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).