Fire erupts from underground gas pipeline in India

According to the PTI news agency; police, fire service, and ONGC officials are working on extinguishing a jet of fire emanating from a borewell. The fire, which is streaming out of an old borewell, located away from human settlements in Razole mandal, started in the morning when an aquaculturist turned on the water supply after a long time, according to the police.

“It is a borewell on the bank of a fish pond. This is an old borewell. When the farmer turned the old borewell on, first water came and later gas began coming out," Konaseema District Superintendent of Police, P Sridhar told the news agency.

Police are ascertaining if the farmer had dug up the bank freshly and is also trying to ascertain the source of the gas. The first priority, however, is to extinguish the fire, Sridhar said. He said it can be done in a couple of hours.

An ONGC team from near Narsapur in the West Godavari district were working to put out the fire. Sridhar observed that there were no ONGC pipelines in the vicinity of the pond but pointed at a 'gas kick' (the unexpected entry of gas into a borewell caused by a change in pressure, usually during drilling) to be a possible cause for the fire.

Image: aninews.in

Read the latest issue of World Pipelines magazine for pipeline news, project stories, industry insight and technical articles.

World Pipelines’ July 2023 issue

Here’s a preview of the July 2023 issue of World Pipelines: the keynote article focuses on pipeline activity in South America; technical articles cover compressors, pipeline mapping and welding; and there’s insight into CO2 transport and HDD best practice.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/project-news/19072023/fire-erupts-from-underground-gas-pipeline-in-india/