Kendrapara: For the last three days, a kind of gas has been emitting from a tube-well sinking site at Mathasahi in Nikirai area of this district.
The tube-well is being sunk by Sadashiba Mallick of Mathsahi village. According to Sadashiba, his family was struggling to get drinking water due to water scarcity this summer. Three days ago, he began the tube-well sinking work. After sinking about 60 ft, all on a sudden a kind of gas started emitting from beneath.
He anxiously threw a burning matchstick into the hole which led to a fire. Panicked, the family members brought the matter to the district administration’s notice Thursday.
Collector Debaraj Senapati directed the executive engineer of RWSS department to conduct an inquiry into the matter.
RWSS officials, during inquiry, found a type of natural gas emitting from the site.
Meanwhile, locals as well as the family members are in a state of panic. They have urged the administration to take the aid of experts to ensure that the incident does not lead to a disaster.
It is believed the gas might be methane. In coastal areas, trees often get uprooted by ingress of tidal water. The trees remain decomposed beneath the ground following which an impervious sticky grey clay soil layer gradually develops on it. The decomposed trees lead to gas formation.
“The matter will be brought to the notice of the director of Geological Survey of India (GSI), Bhubaneswar. Precautionary measures are being taken to avoid fire disaster,” said the collector.
In a similar incident, natural gas emitted for three years since 2007 from the tube-well of Nilamani Nayak of Mantripada. PNN
