Gas well blaze will be doused in a week, everything under control, says Andhra official

Gas well blaze will be doused in a week, everything under control, says Andhra official

Amalapuram , The gas well blaze near the Irusumanda village in Dr B R Ambedkar Konaseema district will be doused in a week's time, an official said on Tuesday, citing information from ONGC officials.

Gas well blaze will be doused in a week, everything under control, says Andhra official

A massive jet fire of up to 20 metres height and 25 metres width erupted around 12.40 pm on January 5 near Mori and Irusumanda villages after a gas leak at an Oil and Natural Gas Corporation -owned well, Mori-5, whose intensity has been reduced now.

"In one week, we will be capping the whole incident, they said. They said it will take one week. Fire's intensity and the spread of flames reduced from Tuesday morning slowly. Right now, everything is under control," Konaseema district collector R Mahesh Kumar said, addressing a press conference, accompanied by ONGC officials.

ONGC officials said the fire will be there for the next four to five days but with a minor flame, he said, adding that ONGC officials have confirmed to him that "there are no chances of escalation".

"As of now, everything is contained. There is nothing to worry about. We have asked all the local public to come back to their homes and back to normal life," Kumar said.

Compared to Monday, the collector said, up to 95 per cent of the flame's intensity, height and width had reduced.

Assuring people that it is at the "bare minimum" level, he said they need not worry, and it is "completely safe".

Meanwhile, a senior ONGC official said the Maharatna public sector company will soon start capping off the gas well to douse the blaze.

"Surroundings around the well are quite safe for the inhabitants also," he claimed.

A call will be taken on whether to hire the services of American experts will be taken in a couple of days, he added.

"We have an agreement with a US team, Wild Well, also. So, we will take a call maybe tomorrow or day after tomorrow. They are already waiting and ready with their visas. If required, they will be immediately mobilised," the official said.

Wild Well Control is a company headquartered in Houston, Texas, US, which offers well control, emergency response, pressure control, relief well planning and other services related to the oil and gas industry, based on "four decades of experience".

The ill-fated gas well in the Konaseema district that caught fire is not operated by the Maharatna company but by its Production Enhancement Contractor Deep Industries Ltd, an Ahmedabad-based listed company.

Earlier, ONGC said its senior management has assumed operational control of the yet to be extinguished gas well blaze and finalised a comprehensive blowout control plan on Tuesday.

"The senior management of ONGC, including Director from Delhi along with Crisis Management Team experts, have assumed operational control of Well Mori-5. A comprehensive blowout control plan has been finalised," an official press release from the public sector major said.

In the wake of continuous efforts, the ONGC team deployed at the inferno managed to reduce its intensity and size, which has been raging for more than a day already.

The firefighters completed the creation of a temporary canal from a nearby irrigation source to facilitate the deployment of high-capacity firewater pumps.

Fire pumps have reached the wellsite, and placement activities are in progress, ONGC said.

Besides reducing the flame's intensity and size, the firefighters have also managed to alter the flame to vertical direction.

"Air quality, noise levels, and nearby water bodies are being continuously monitored to minimise environmental impact within a 600-metre radius," the press release said.

Further, it noted that the ONGC is in continuous coordination with all stakeholders to ensure transparency and an effective response.

All operations are being carried out with the highest standards of safety and environmental care, it added.

ONGC expert teams have arrived from Mumbai and Delhi to douse the blaze, an official said earlier on Tuesday.

"They have created a water umbrella to make the temperature cool down, but the flames are still coming, so the expert teams will arrive and they will assess the situation, and accordingly they will take all measures to douse the flames," Konaseema joint collector T Nisanthi told PTI.

By sprinkling water, all the trees surrounding the fire jet are being cooled off, said Nisanthi, reiterating that the flames had reduced over a day.

There were hopes the flames will be doused at the earliest, she said, noting that all efforts are being made.

"They will assess the situation first, and only based on the assessment, they will be able to tell," she said when asked about a timeline for completely extinguishing the blaze.

Revenue, Police and Fire department officials, along with ONGC, State Disaster Response Force and Red Cross personnel are toiling hard to extinguish the flames, she said.

As many as 600 people from three villages around the fire were evacuated on Monday for safety, who are now being called back.

Deep Industries Ltd had secured a ₹1,402-crore contract in 2024 for production enhancement operations at ONGC's Rajahmundry Asset in Andhra Pradesh, according to reports.

The company has been operating the Mori-5 well for about a year, an ONGC official said.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.