Passengers traveling to their destinations suffered for 24 hours after the police blocked traffic on both sides of the highway, keeping in mind the potential risk of gas leaking after the tanker overturned.
What you should know
The national highway, which is a lifeline, has been blocked for 24 hours after a tanker carrying gas bullets from India overturned in the middle of the road.
The tanker that overturned on the Lamaha section of the East-West Highway in Chandrapur 4 at 7:30 am on Tuesday was moved off the road at 7:30 am on Wednesday and traffic resumed.
Thousands of passengers were inconvenienced as the highway, which carries 5,000 vehicles daily, was blocked. This incident has shown how weak the state machinery is. The Traffic Police Office, Rautahat, has informed that the highway, which was blocked for 24 hours, has finally reopened.
The tanker carrying LPG gas from Nobel Gas Company from Raxaul, India, to Mahendranagar, Dhanusha, overturned on the road on Tuesday morning. The tanker, which was loaded with 21 tons of gas, started leaking gas from that time.
The security personnel called in six cranes to lift the tanker and clear the road. Fearing a fire after the gas leak, a fire engine was called to the scene and water was poured. The crane tried to lift it several times but failed. The gas company's technicians also worked all night. The achievement was zero. The technician said that after the technicians removed all the gas, the tanker would be lighter and easier to lift, and later they did so accordingly.
But the local administration of Rautahat requested the Ministry of Energy, saying that there was a high possibility of fire if the gas was removed because there was a high-tension line nearby. After receiving the answer that it could not be closed now because it was a national transmission line, they installed a pipe and removed the gas to the south and dumped it. After removing about 80 percent of the gas, when the crane tried to lift the tanker in the middle of the night, the engine and tank parts were separated, informed District Traffic Police Inspector Rajendra Thapa Magar.
'We had been trying to open the road since morning. But we could not lift it because we did not have a strong and big crane,' he said, 'That is why it took 24 hours to open the road. Everyone suffered.' The tanker driver, Pawan Yadav, 35, a resident of Jayanagar Police Station, Kadora, India, was injured when it overturned.
Considering the potential risk of gas leakage after the tanker overturned, the police stopped traffic on both sides of the highway, causing inconvenience to passengers traveling to their destinations for 24 hours. Most of the vehicles left via the inner road. DSP Rupa Labung of the Chandranigahapur Police Station said that it was difficult to pick up the gas after the leak.
‘The most difficult task was the fear of fire after the gas leak,’ she said, ‘The technicians also suggested that the tanker itself be emptied due to the leaked gas. This is the reason for the delay.’
