NAGPUR: Chlorine gas leak at a water treatment plant in Nagpur shortly after midnight on Monday sent nearby residents running for safety and left many people gasping for breath, officials said.

Several people were hospitalised after the leakage occurred in a 900-kg capacity chlorine gas cylinder at the water treatment plant in Godhani village at around 1 am, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) said.

The gas spread to nearby residential areas, triggering panic. Many people experienced coughing and difficulty in breathing, it said.

Police later evacuated residents within a 200‑metre radius to safe locations and sealed off the affected area.

Residents of nearby settlements were instructed to move away, and several people were taken to hospitals for treatment, the NMC said in a release.

After being alerted, the civic fire personnel rushed to the spot with two water tenders and breathing apparatus. Staff of the Orange City Water Pvt Ltd (OCW), which supplies drinking water in Nagpur, and a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were also called in for assistance.

At about 5.30 am, after the leak was plugged, the NDRF team, firefighters and OCW personnel placed the chlorine cylinder into a tank of water mixed with caustic soda, the civic body said.

An official at Mankapur police station said that security personnel evacuated residents within a 200‑metre radius to safe locations and cordoned off the area.

Many people went to hospitals on their own, while many others were hospitalised by the police, he said.

The police have appealed to people not to believe in rumours.