A grave chemical hazard occurred in Northern Kerala on the late evening of Aug 27. A tanker lorry, carrying LPG hit a road divider and overturned at Chala, near Kannur. The tank got separated from the chassis, caught fire and exploded with disastrous consequences. The inferno raged for hours and was allowed to burn out. Two persons were killed and about 30 were injured, many of them with severe burns. Though the potential for a more serious outcome was already present, the administration and civil society heaved a sigh of relief as the extent of the accident was rather limited. The government was quick to offer compensation for the kin of the dead and serious injured, the quantum of which seemed quite justifiable, compared to previous such exercises. Adequate compensation from Indian Oil, which transported the chemical is expected.
All of the above was okay, by normal considerations. The preventive measures contemplated by the officials to ward off such incidents in future merited a good laugh. The entire gamut of the administration - including the Chief Minister himself - has no doubt at all that the disaster was caused by the road divider and a decision was quickly made to dismantle it within 24 hours itself. The machinery made notorious for its red tape could summon the resources on the eve of Onam to demolish the divider. No one seemed bothered to ask whether other factors such as poor visibility, slippery road conditions, driving under the influence, or any other untoward incidents triggered the mishap. It will be business as usual once the offending divider is dismantled - until another such incident occurs. Many vehicle accidents result by hitting roadside trees. Perhaps the Kerala government would cut off all trees on the wayside if a tanker lorry ran into it?
Some incidents are like that. They are so fortuitous that they happen and only after that would the participants come to realise that the event has occurred. These are so much ruled by chance alone, that no preventive measure would be sufficient to ensure non-repeatability nor lack of any such would cause it to occur again.
