An LPG tanker toppled on National Highway 66 in Kumta of Uttara Kannada district on Saturday morning. The Bharat Gas tanker was travelling from Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) in Mangaluru to a plant in Belagavi, police officials said. The tanker toppled near Handigona in Kumta taluk of Uttara Kannada district.
"On the way, around 10 am this morning, the vehicle skidded and toppled. There was a leak and the valve with pressure gauge was damaged," Parameshwara Gunuga, police inspector at Kumta Police Station said.
Traffic on the highway was diverted and people living in houses close to where the tanker toppled were shifted temporarily. "There was a traffic jam and we decided to divert traffic to avoid the road where the tanker toppled. The people residing in houses near the area have been shifted and electricity was cut off," the inspector said.
Police officials advised local residents to not light any fires until fire department officials gave them the go-ahead.
"The Bharat Gas safety team was dispatched from Ankola to plug the leak," he added. Police officials said that after an incident that occurred in Bargi, Uttara Kannada in 2015, locals were wary of the tanker catching fire.
In September 2015, one person died and 14 were injured after a gas tanker caught fire in Bargi, a village close to Gokarna in Uttara Kannada. The tanker had toppled and later caught fire following a gas leak.
National Highway 66 runs along the western coast of India parallel to the Western Ghats and connects Panvel in Mumbai to Kanyakumari. The route crosses Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
In November 2019, an LPG tanker came to a halt on National Highway 75 in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district after the driver noticed that liquified petroleum gas (LPG) was leaking from the tanker. A quick-response team dispatched by the oil company to plug the leak following which the tanker continued to travel towards Bengaluru.