Road work damages gas pipeline in Andheri East, starts fire

The incident occurred at 12.35 am on Sunday near Sher-e-Punjab colony in Andheri East. The vehicles that caught fire were two-wheelers belonging to Arvindkumar Kathial, 21, and Aman Saroj, 22. Kathial sustained 30-40% burns, while Saroj suffered 40-50% injuries

MUMBAI: The MIDC police have filed an FIR against a JCB operator and a road contractor for their negligence which resulted in leakage of piped natural gas from a Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL) pipeline running through the middle of a road in Andheri (East). The gas leak caused a Level 1 fire to erupt which affected three moving vehicles and injured the drivers in the early hours of Sunday.

Mumbai, India - March 9, 2025: Fire was broken out heavily leakes piped Natural gas from MGL-PNG supply pipeline passing though middle of the road at Sher-E-Punjab Society, Andheri in Mumbai, India, on Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The incident occurred at 12.35 am on Sunday near Sher-e-Punjab colony in Andheri East. The vehicles that caught fire were two-wheelers belonging to Arvindkumar Kathial, 21, and Aman Saroj, 22. Kathial sustained 30-40% burns, while Saroj suffered 40-50% injuries. The vehicle of auto rickshaw driver Suresh Kailas Gupta (52) was spared but he sustained 20% burns. Gupta and Kathial took discharge against medical advice from the trauma care hospital to which they were admitted in Jogeshwari.

A senior civic official told HT that the road in question was a BMC one. “But I have to verify whether the work was part of the cement-concreting road contract or something else,” he said. “This issue has happened in the past. The contractor needs to be more careful wherever there is an MGL line.”

The official emphasised that an MGL line wasn’t something that was untraceable since the contact numbers of MGL officials were put up on a board on every construction site. “The workers are also orally instructed about this,” he said. “So this is clearly negligence on the part of the contractor and we will take action against him.”

Last week, the BMC had issued a circular, banning the digging up of new roads. When asked whether the contractor went against this order, the civic official said, “No. This is work being done on roads that are already dug up and will continue until they are completed by May 31.”

MGL, in a statement issued on Sunday, said that the gas pipeline was damaged due to the impact of the JCB during “unauthorised and uncontrolled” digging last night, leading to the fire. “The fire was extinguished by the fire brigade and MGL emergency team. The gas supply was stopped temporarily for repair work on the pipeline… With the support of the fire brigade, the situation was brought under control,” read the statement.

“To avoid such incidents, MGL has been constantly coordinating with the BMC and has been holding discussions with senior officials of BMC,” the gas agency further stated.

The MIDC police have registered a case against the JCB operator and contractor of the site under Sections 125, 125 (a), 125 (b) and 324 (3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. “We are in the process of getting the details and checking whether the work was subcontracted. The concerned persons will be arrested soon,” said senior inspector Rajiv Chavan of MIDC police station.

Due to the pipeline damage, the gas supply to Sher-E-Punjab, Takshila Colony, Model Town, Poonam Nagar and Durga Nagar in Andheri East was stopped as a precautionary measure. The pipeline was repaired and gas supply restored by Sunday afternoon.