Kendrapara: Rumours are floating around about the presence of an oil field in the Chhanda village of this block after a sticky oil like substance smelling like diesel was found floating in a canal.
Residents claimed there might be an oil field near the canal after they saw oil layers floating in the canal. The layers smelled like diesel and bubbles having the same smell emerged from a culvert on the canal.
The district administration has rushed a team to investigate. But the truth behind the claim has not been confirmed.
The matter came out after some fishermen saw the oil layer in the canal and informed villagers, former sarpanch Narayan Ghadai of Ghagra panchayat said. He said he and some other villagers reached the spot to find the source of the oil layers.
They found bubbles emerging from the culvert and some sticky oil like substance seeping outside. Villagers claimed that earlier they had seen oily substances floating in the canal, and said that there might be an oil field nearby.
They said the district administration should conduct an examination of the soil to establish the truth.
Collector Dasarathi Satapathy directed Kendrapara tehsildar Hemalata Bahalia, to conduct an enquiry and submit a report.
Bahalia went to the Ghagara canal and took stock of the situation. She found no oil floating on the water after her arrival but put a paper on the surface of the mud after the residents pointed her to the source. Bubbles started coming out with oily substance which smelt like diesel.
Satapathy said he has received the inquiry report from the tehsildar and the administration is going to write to IOCL, Paradip to send their technical team and conduct an inquiry.
Sub-collector Sanjay Kumar Mishra said there is a possibility that someone might have hid a diesel barrel inside the culvert. However, as it is not possible to check inside the culvert facts could not be confirmed, Mishra added.
PNN
