E-Paper
Fire breaks due to MNGL pipe leakage at Kondhwa
Gas leakage from a Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) pipeline at Parge Nagar in Kondhwa caught fire on Tuesday afternoon
Gas leakage from a Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) pipeline at Parge Nagar in Kondhwa caught fire on Tuesday afternoon. The incident occurred during road excavation work for a construction site near the locality. Though no casualties were reported during the incident, the blazes caused panic in the area for some time. This is the fourth fire incident reported due to leakage of MNGL gas pipes in the city in the recent past.
The incident threw vehicular traffic out of gear for nearly 90 minutes in Kondhwa, and a car parked by the roadside was partially gutted in the fire.
Residents have raised concerns, claiming that the pipeline burst is a result of the ongoing digging activity. Meanwhile, MNGL gas supply to several residential societies in the area was disconnected from 1 pm due to repair work.
Jyoti Shinde, a resident of the Parge Nagar area said, “This is the first time we saw such an incident in our area, and everyone around panicked a bit. The civic authorities should only allow digging activity with prior inspection of the spot. Due to this incident, many households in the area had no gas supply for almost an hour.”
Umar Shah, another local resident said, “At the time of the incident, many vehicles including two-wheelers were parked in the locality. Had it not been for quick action, a disaster would have happened.”
Vikas Chauhan, senior MNGL official (Operating and Maintenance) said, “A private party was excavating a road when the incident occurred. There was a Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) cable and the MNGL line was lying underground. Both lines were damaged, and a fire broke out. After receiving a complaint, our team rushed to the spot and controlled the blazes. Within a few minutes, we restored the line and resumed gas supply to around 200 consumers which was affected due to the incident.”
He further said, “We are closely coordinated with government establishments such as Maha-Metro, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), and MSEDCL. However, there is no mechanism to coordinate with private parties. However, we regularly appeal to people before doing any excavation adjacent to the MNGL line; they should contact us and get help. We have provided a toll-free number. We are continuously making awareness, but very few give responses.”
Earlier, there were three fire incidents reported in the year 2023. In the month of January, two incidents occurred- The MNGL gas pipeline at Rajaram Bridge on Sinhagad Road caught fire and another at Vitthal Borate Nagar in Pune’s Kharadi caught fire.
In July, a fire broke out at Salunke Vihar Road in Wanowrie due to leakage from an underground MNGL pipeline passing through Bhairoba Nala.
