Mysore/Mysuru: More than 50 persons including women and children took ill as gas leaked from a chlorine cylinder installed at a park adjacent to Railway Loco Colony, opposite Vani Vilas Water Works on KRS Road in Yadavagiri on the evening of March 8 this year.

Though it was a minor incident, it was a horrifying experience for many including motorists as they experienced severe breathlessness and had to be hospitalised with oxygen masks. Some just sat on the road, unable to breathe. The incident was a wake-up call for the district authorities to be prepared for any such eventualities in the future.

In view of the widespread use of chemicals in factories, the Mysuru District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) organised a mock drill this morning to tackle a chemical emergency.

The drill, conducted in association with the Department of Factories, Boilers and Industrial Safety and the Department of Health, was organised at Kumbarakoppal of K.R. Nagar Taluk, to make people aware of how they should react in such conditions.

The mock drill was conducted under the leadership of Additional Deputy Commissioner Dr. B.S. Manjunathaswamy and involved stakeholders from the Fire and Emergency Services Department, the Police and Revenue Departments.

The mock drill was mainly aimed at creating awareness among people as well as the officers as to how the personnel are always on their toes to tackle such a situation. Demonstrations on prevention and self-protection measures in the event of a chemical emergency were also showcased.

The drill also demonstrated skills and techniques to rescue people in case of a chemical spill. A dummy gas tanker was set on fire and exercises were performed to rescue people and shift them to hospitals for emergency medical care.

Fire tenders sounding the siren rushed to the spot creating the impression among the people that some major accident had occurred. People were evacuated from the spot of ‘disaster’ even as the possibility of a chemical disaster due to leakage of gas was being announced through loudspeakers.

Over 8 ambulances were pressed into service along with fire tenders. The mock drill was to find out how much time it takes for the stakeholders and members of DDMA to reach a particular site in case of an emergency. Over 30 personnel were involved in the drill which was watched by over 300 villagers and the public.

K.R. Nagar Tahsildar Santosh, Fire Officer Jayaramaiah, Assistant Director of Information Department T.K. Harish Kumar, Taluk Health Officer Mahendrappa, Inspector Lava and others were present.