Navi Mumbai: A leaking tanker loaded with the highly inflammable chemical 2-Methyl-2-propanol was evacuated safely from a Mumbai-Goa highway stretch in Kolad, Raigad, on Tuesday. The leakage was noticed around 5 am when the container was heading from JNPA towards Mahad. Experts, joined by rescuers, cleared the area in a four-hour-long operation.The accident was reported at Pugaon village, where the tanker turned turtle, blocking the side margin and most of the two lanes of the highway, affecting vehicular movement. The chemical was leaking from the manhole area on the top. Following the accident, the administration has restricted the area to a ‘No Mobile Zone’.A crane was pressed into service to lift away the tanker to a nearby safe area. The highway safety patrol and the Kolad police, with the help of the local volunteers of Sahyadri Vanyajeev Rakshanarth Samajik Sanstha (SVRSS), undertook the operation. The traffic movement on the highway was completely blocked during the operation.Later, water was sprayed on the tanker as part of a cooling exercise. Thereafter, under expert supervision, the gas leakage was arrested. Also known as tert-butanol, the chemical is used in organic synthesis and as a solvent to manufacture other chemical intermediaries.The highly flammable liquid causes eye, skin and respiratory irritation and central nervous system depression when human beings are exposed to it.
