ONGC Gas Leak Triggers Inferno in Andhra’s Konaseema, 600 Evacuated

About 600 people were evacuated from three villages within a four-kilometre radius on Monday when a gas leak at an ONGC well run by a contractor in the Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district caused an inferno.

According to a Maharatna public sector firm representative, no fatalities or injuries have been reported thus far.

"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," stated a spokesperson for ONGC.

Two schools were given holidays, and residents of the nearby villages of Irusumanda, Gudapalli, and Lakkavaram were evacuated to safer areas.

The evacuees were provided with food by the district administration; some of them were also observed seeking safety at a Gudapalli church.

The Konaseema district government issued a press release stating that the flames from the gas well were 25 meters in diameter and 20 meters high.

Firefighters are using water from an irrigation canal 200 meters from the scene to put out the flames.

"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 p.m., the leaked gas, which had 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.

At a secretariat situated 100 meters from the fire, the district collector, superintendent of police, deputy collector, and ONGC officials are keeping an eye on the situation.

At first, the nearby coconut trees and rice fields were covered in a dense white cloud of gas.

Eventually, the gas caught fire, resulting in a massive fire that destroyed a number of nearby palm trees.

A few fire tenders were visible on standby as footage of the local police and the workers in orange, red and blue dungarees fleeing for their lives went viral.

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.

According to the announcement, ONGC has also started working with worldwide well-control professionals.

Subject to site evaluation, mobilisation plans have been initiated to enable advanced well-control and casing-cutting activities.

More equipment is being mobilised from surrounding areas, including the West Godavari district's Rustumbada hamlet, which is close to Narsapuram.

According to sources, Deep Industries Ltd., an ONGC Production Improvement Contractor (PEC), was awarded a Rs 1,402-crore contract in 2024 for production improvement operations at ONGC's Rajahmundry Asset in Andhra Pradesh.

According to the source, the company has been using the Mori-5 successfully for around a year.