Mangaluru, Aug 3: An LPG gas tanker toppled on National Highway-75 between Mangaluru and Bengaluru at Rekya village near Nelyadi on Friday, bringing traffic to a halt, for close to five hours.
The incident took place around 12pm, when the gas-laden vehicle was moving towards Bengaluru from Mangaluru. Traffic on the national highway was hit for nearly five hours, due to the accident, and the stretch was opened for traffic only at 5pm.
Police said a gas leak was detected, and traffic was stopped on the national highway as a precautionary measure. As the gas leak was heavy, power supply in the nearby areas was cut off.
Residents were asked to move to safer places from the spot. Police added that officials from the gas company, arrived at the spot, an hour after the incident. The LPG was transferred to other vehicles deployed by the company.
Traffic was diverted due to the accident. Police said that vehicles coming from Bengaluru-Hassan-Sakleshpura-Shirady Ghat to Mangaluru were diverted through Gundya. Vehicles moving from Mangaluru via Shirady Ghat were diverted through Uppinangadi-Subrahmanya Cross-Kadaba-Subrahmanya-Gundya road.
Frequent accidents of tankers carrying LPG gas from the coastal city to various parts of the state has turned out to be a nightmare for residents living close to the national highway.
According to data, a dozen LPG tankers have toppled in the past six months. This, on an average, corresponds to one case of gas tanker going off track and turning turtle every two weeks.
While speeding and negligent driving are the main reasons for such accidents, challenging curves on certain parts of the ghats and human errors, also cause such accidents.
According to petroleum company officials, more than 250 LPG bullet tankers ply to various destinations from Mangaluru every day. Around 150 ply via Shiradi Ghat towards Bengaluru and Tamil Nadu, while 70 tankers move towards Karwar, and the rest to Kerala.
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