ONGC well fire in Andhra Pradesh: Expert teams from Delhi, Mumbai to arrive in Konaseema to douse blaze; flames shoot up nearly 20 metres

MORI: The ONGC expert teams are arriving from Mumbai and Delhi to tackle a gas well fire in Andhra Pradesh’s Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district, official said on Tuesday. The fire broke out around 12.40 pm on January 5 after a gas leak at the Mori-5 well near Mori and Irusumanda villages. Flames shot up to nearly 20 metres high and spread about 25 metres wide, creating a massive jet fire.While the well is owned by ONGC, it is currently operated by its Production Enhancement Contractor, Deep Industries Ltd, an Ahmedabad-based firm, and not directly by the Maharatna PSU.Konaseema joint collector T Nisanthi said firefighters were cooling the area by spraying water around the site."They (firefighters) have created a water umbrella to make the temperature cool down, but the flames are still coming, so the expert teams will arrive and they will assess the situation, and accordingly they will take all measures to douse the flames," she said.She added that teams from Mumbai and Delhi were on their way and said continuous water sprinkling had helped cool nearby trees. According to her, the intensity of the fire had reduced since Monday.Officials said all efforts were being made to bring the blaze under control at the earliest."They will assess the situation first, and only based on the assessment, they will be able to tell," she said when asked about a timeline to fully extinguish the fire.Teams from the Revenue, Police and Fire departments, along with ONGC, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the Red Cross, are involved in the operation.As a safety measure, around 600 people from three nearby villages were evacuated on Monday.According to reports, Deep Industries Ltd secured a Rs 1,402-crore contract in 2024 for production enhancement work at ONGC’s Rajahmundry Asset. An ONGC official said the company has been operating the Mori-5 well for nearly a year.