Four people were killed in a massive fire that broke out at an oil and gas processing plant of state-run ONGC at Uran near Mumbai this morning. Three more were injured. The police have sealed a 1-km area around the plant. Firefighters brought the situation under control after two hours.
One ONGC employee and three Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) men died in the industrial accident, Navi Mumbai senior police officer Ashok Dudhe told news agency ANI. "The fire is under control now and there is no need to panic. People living near the plant must not believe rumours," he said.
ONGC in a tweet said the fire broke out in a storm water drain of the oil and gas processing plant at Uran, 45 km from Mumbai. The company said gas has been diverted to a plant at Hazira in Gujarat, 330 km away.
In visuals, the intense fire is seen rising high amid oil and gas pipes at the Uran plant as firefighters assess the situation.
We r extremely sad to hv lost 4 precious lives-3 CISF jawans and a senior ONGC officer in the unfortunate fire incident in Uran Plant 2day inspite of valiant efforts made to contain blaze in less than 2 hrs tme. #ONGC expresses its heartfelt condolence to bereaved families.
— ONGC (@ONGC_) September 3, 2019
Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL) in a statement said its City Gate station at Wadala has been severely affected, and many CNG stations across Mumbai may not operate due to low pressure in the pipeline. The company asked customers to switch to alternate fuel in the meantime.
"Due to a major fire at ONGC's gas processing facility at Uran today morning, gas supply to MGL's City Gate Station at Wadala has been severely affected. MGL is ensuring that supply to its domestic PNG consumers would be maintained on priority without interruption," MGL said in the statement.
"However, many CNG stations, across Mumbai may not operate due to low pressure in the pipeline. Industrial & Commercial customers have been advised to switch to alternate fuel. Gas supplies across MGL's network will normalize once the supply of natural gas from ONGC is restored. Inconvenience caused is regretted," it said.
Fire broke out in storm water drainage in Uran Plant early morning successfully doused within two hours by fire fighting team. #ONGC 's robust crisis mitigation preparedness helped put off this major fire in a very short time. @PetroleumMin @PTI_News @pallab_ongc @ANI @CMD_ONGC
— ONGC (@ONGC_) September 3, 2019
ONGC is the largest crude oil and natural gas company in India, contributing around 70 per cent to domestic production.