Post News Network
Nimapara, July 12: Panic gripped Chakarola Square under Chhanijanga gram panchayat following the emission of inflammable gas at a tube-well construction site Tuesday.
The gas, which was reported to be methane, started coming out from the earth through the passage created to insert pipes for the tube-well being constructed on the premises of a tailoring centre belonging to Bidyadhar Mohanty.
The workers digging the tube-well found the gas inflammable when they tested it.
As soon as the news of the gas spread, many people of nearby areas thronged the spot to witness the emission of the gas.
This kind of hydrocarbon or methane gas is usually formed when dead marine fauna decomposes under the ground after remaining there for years, according to geologists Manas Ranjan Swain and Mamatarani Swain, both lecturers at Nimapara Autonomous College.
Emission of these kinds of gases usually takes place in coastal areas, said the geologists.
Residents of the area said several such instances had come to the fore earlier in Gop and Nimapara blocks of Puri district.