AGARTALA, June 15 � An alert has been sounded in West Tripura�s Konaban area following leakage of natural gas from a well explored by ONGC, last evening, official sources said here on Wednesday.
However, there is no immediate danger due to the outflow of the gas.
ONGC engineers were engaged in repairing works on a gas well near Konaban gas gathering centre and suddenly gas started emitting from the well, said the ONGC spokesman.
He said that the pressure was so high that no engineer could get a chance to stop the emission of natural gas. The entire area has been cordoned off as part of a precautionary measure.
An expert team headed by K Satyanarayana, Manager, ONGC, Tripura Asset rushed to the spot and was supervising the operation to put a cap on the well.
�At least ten fire tenders have been pressed into service for spraying water in and around the gas well so that gas could not catch fire�, said he.
Claiming that there was no threat to people yet, the official claimed drilling mud, a mixture of chemical used for cementing the face of the well, is under preparation. �Hopefully, the well will be �killed� by using drilling mud within next few hours�, added he.
This kind of leakage is likely in oil industries and ONGC Tripura Asset is well capable of handling this kind of mishap, according ONGC experts here.
But panic gripped the entire area as the gas continued to leak till this evening. Officials of civil administration rushed to the spot to monitor the situation.
�As the well is located away from human habitat there is no danger. We have taken all possible measures to ensure the gas that is coming out should not catch fire�, he said adding that even if the gas catches fire ONGC had adequate resources to control it.
