Gas leak from ONGC well in AP; plugged

A minor gas leakage was reported from one of the wells of ONGC at Kasanapalli in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, which has been brought under control, a senior officer said in Rajahmundry on Thursday.

"There was a minor leakage from the well yesterday, which was controlled immediately," said Asset Manager, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) Rajahmundry P Krishna Rao said in a statement.

Following the leak, district collector Neetu Kumari Prasad appealed to people not panic as ONGC officials had plugged the leak.

This is the second such incident since the GAIL pipeline blast at Nagaram in the district last Friday that has so far claimed 21 lives and injured many.

Many houses, fields and trees had been reduced to ashes as the blast triggered massive fire with flames rising several feet high and destroying everything coming in their way.

On June 29, a leakage was detected in another pipeline belonging to ONGC at Tatipaka, about 80 kms from here, which was replaced.

Meanwhile, ONGC has intensified patrolling in areas where its wells are located, with its Special Protection Force team being on the move to attend to any untoward incident, the officer said.

"ONGC has also initiated a campaign using two vehicles in the areas where wells are located to create awareness among people. These vehicles carry banners mentioning phone numbers and preventive steps to be taken (in case of gas leak)," said Krishna Rao.