State government officials have complained of a communication lag between the time of the Boisar gas leak and passing on the information to the disaster management and district officials. Senior government officials said the incident occurred around 7.15 pm on Tuesday. Though the company officials informed the Directorate of Industrial Safety,officials from the district collectorate and disaster management were not intimated till 9 pm. I got the information around 9 pm. There was a delay in informing us and we have sent a notice to the industrial safety unit seeking explanation over the delay, said a government official from Thane. Mantralaya officials said they got to know of the leak two hours after the incident. Officials said they later alerted the team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF),which specialises in chemical disasters. We alerted them as soon as we heard about the incident because the first information we got said the leak hadnt been contained. After 20 minutes,we were informed that the leak had been plugged and there was no need for any emergency services. We then told NDRF not to move, said a senior official. There was a communication lag between persons at the spot and the state disaster system. We are checking the details, he said.
