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A minor gas leakage was reported from one of Oil and National Gas Corp. Ltd’s (ONGC’s) wells at Kasanapalli in the 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 P. Krishna Rao, asset manager of ONGC Rajahmundry, in a statement.

Following the leak, district collector Neetu Kumari Prasad appealed to people to not panic as ONGC officials had plugged the leak. This is the second such incident since the GAIL (India) Ltd pipeline blast at Nagaram in the district last Friday, which 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.

On 29 June, a leakage was detected in another pipeline belonging to ONGC at Tatipaka, about 80km from Rajahmundry, which was replaced. Meanwhile, ONGC has intensified patrolling in areas where its wells are located, with a Special Protection Force team 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 a gas leak),” said Krishna Rao.

Source-On Request