Source of gas-like smell in Noida sectors remains a mystery

The district administration, police and the Noida authority are trying to ascertain what caused several sectors to be engulfed in something that smelled like cooking gas for over two hours

A day after PNG-like gas smell spread panic among residents of several sectors in Noida, the source of the smell has still not been identified. The district administration, police and the Noida authority are trying to ascertain what caused several sectors to be engulfed in something that smelled like cooking gas for over two hours.

Officials from IGL as well as GAIL said they checked their pipelines but no leakage was found. (Sunil Ghosh /HT)

From personal accounts of several residents, it can be ascertained that the smell permeated sectors 137, 93, 93B and 128 around 7pm on Thursday. People near the Sector 137 Metro station and those driving past these sectors on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway also reported smelling something akin to cooking gas. With the smell not dissipating even after a while, several residents’ WhatsApp groups went abuzz as more and more residents pinged to say that it smelt like a ”massive gas leakage” had happened somewhere.

Societies including Logix Blossom County, Purvanchal Royal Park, Supertech Ecociti and Paras Tierra, all in Sector 137, even turned off their main PNG supply line after the complaints increased.

Calls to complain about the smell started pouring in to all authorities and they sprung to action to detect the source of the smell and resolve the issue. However, till Friday evening, none of the agencies had any clue as to what had caused the gas-like smell or from where it had started.

Area manager from IGL, Madhav Raman, told HT that his team was in the affected sectors for over three hours but no leakage was detected. He added that IGL has increased its vigil, even though all pipelines are monitored day and night and any leakage would show up on their system.

oida authority’s senior manager Mukesh Vaish said, “The demolition work around the twin towers in Sector 93 has started and there is a GAIL pipeline nearby. We got the line checked immediately, but it was intact. We are cognizant of the pipeline and its location and we will ensure that it is not damaged during the demolition.”

Uttkarsh Mehta, partner from Edifice Engineering, the company chosen for demolishing the twin towers at Supertech’s Emerald Court in Noida’s Sector 93A added that the GAIL pipeline is about 25 metres from the demolition site and cannot be harmed by the demolition.

“We have discussed the matter with them (GAIL) and the pipeline is placed in such a way that the blast would not impact it. We will take additional precautions as well and cover the area with rubble during the blast to prevent any damage to the pipeline,” he said.

While some claimed that the smell was due to CNG leakage from a car parked in Sector 128, no such vehicle has been identified yet. “We checked these reports, but we have not found any such vehicle in Sector 128. It is unlikely that the smell from a single vehicle leak would spread as far as it did,” said Ranvijay Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police.

Meanwhile, residents across Sectors 137, 93, 93B, 128 and surrounding villages are an apprehensive lot.

“The smell around our house was very strong and it definitely smelt like gas. We don’t know where the leakage was, but it is a matter of concern that nobody knows what happened. Who will take responsibility in case there is some large-scale accident? We were lucky that this incident didn’t cause any harm, but we can’t just let it go,” said Chhaya Sharma, a resident of Sector 137.

District magistrate Suhas LY said IGL has been asked to submit a report and an inquiry may be set up if required.