GSDMA suggested the government adopt measures like setting up a unified state-level fire service authority as has been done in Maharashtra. The state government is yet to act on the report.
The report says that Gujarat presently has 380 "Major Accident Hazard" (MAH) prone industrial units, of which 331are operational. All these pose toxic leak risks and over 80% are also fire or explosion risks. Some toxic chemicals with more than 5,000 metric tonnes storages in Gujarat are acrylonitrile, ammonia, benzene, chlorobenzene, chloroform, cyclohexanone, ethylene dichloride, hydrogen, cyanide, P-xylene, styrene monomer and toluene.
The report says that the corridor from Vapi to Ahmedabad along the national highway has the highest density of chemical units and thus has a high risk of a chemical emergency. Toxic leaks are the most significant disaster scenarios in the area and a large-scale toxic leak could affect thousands of people. Some toxic leak scenarios could potentially affect neighboring states and sea waters, which may require a national-level response.
The GSDMA report states that, based on a recent assessment by NDRF (National Disaster Rescue Force), Gujarat currently has only 35% of the required number of fire stations. Its manpower shortfall is greater than 90%. Because of these gaps in infrastructure and resources, the capability for disaster management is severely limited.
The authority called for improving response mechanisms in case of chemical disasters and the establishment of an incident management system. The setting up of local emergency response teams with fully-equipped fire stations have also been suggested, apart from regional response teams. It has been recommended that a state emergency response team be created for complex, high toxicity, high damage chemical emergencies.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/k8brvmh
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