600 people from 3 villages evacuated after gas leak at Konaseema in Andhra sparks inferno

Mori (Andhra Pradesh), Jan 5 (PTI) A gas leak at an ONGC well here in Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district operated by a contractor sparked an inferno on Monday, leading to the evacuation of around 600 people from three villages within a four-km radius.

No deaths or casualties have been reported so far, an official of the Maharatna public sector company said.

"The fire occurred due to a gas pipeline leakage at the Mori-5 well, which is operated by Deep Industries Ltd as part of production enhancement operations," an ONGC official told PTI.

People from neighbouring Irusumanda, Gudapalli and Lakkavaram villages were evacuated to safer locations, while holidays were declared for two schools.

The district administration made food arrangements for the evacuees; some of them were also seen taking refuge at a church in Gudapalli.

According to a press release from the Konaseema district administration, flames from the gas well wafted 20 metres high with a 25-metre diameter.

To douse the flames, firefighters are sourcing water from an irrigation canal 200 metres away from the disaster.

"Clarity could emerge on the blowout blaze containment in 24 hours," authorities said in the press release. The gas leak happened around 12.20 pm on Monday during drilling operations.

Around 12.40 pm, the leaked gas, which engulfed a 500-metre area from the well, caught fire.

At least 10 fire tenders are currently at the site battling the fire, which is 200 km from the greenfield capital city of Amaravati.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inquired about the fire and ordered a quick dousing.

Officials of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) from Rajahmundry rushed to Well Mori-5 near Malikipuram to assess the situation and ascertain the cause of the fire.

The district collector, superintendent of police, deputy collector and ONGC officials are monitoring the situation at a secretariat located 100 metres away from the inferno.

Initially, a thick white cloud of gas blanketed the surrounding paddy fields and coconut trees.

The gas eventually ignited, creating a towering inferno, which burned several palm trees in its vicinity.

Videos of local police and the workers in orange, red and blue overalls running for their lives went viral as a couple of fire tenders were seen on standby, according to PTI Videos.

The fire has broken out amid newly planted rabi paddy crops and palm trees.

In a release, ONGC said, "An incident of gas leakage during workover operations at Well Mori-5 was reported by the PEC operator, Deep Industries Limited, at the Mori field." The well is located in a remote area, with no human habitation within a 600-metre radius.

The affected area has been cordoned off, cooling operations have commenced, and ONGC has mobilised its Crisis Management Teams (CMT and RCMT), the oil and gas major said.

Preparatory work is underway to facilitate well control and, if required, capping of the well.

ONGC has also initiated coordination with international well-control specialists, the release said.

Mobilisation arrangements have been activated to support advanced well-control and casing-cutting operations, subject to site assessment.

Additional equipment is being mobilised from nearby locations, including Rustumbada village near Narsapuram in West Godavari district.

Deep Industries Ltd, a Production Enhancement Contractor (PEC) of ONGC, had secured a Rs 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, the official said. PTI STH VN VN