MANGALURU: At least two wells in Deralakatte vicinity were found with inflammable contents suspended in water on Thursday. Fire officials and police personnel visited the spot to check the cause of the mysterious presence of what seemed like petroleum.
House owner Usman who noticed a faint odour of fuel from the water in the past few months said the smell grew extremely strong when the well was being cleaned on Tuesday night. The well was barely being used for six months as it was sampled as contaminated by the local government hospital there, he said. However on Tuesday, Usman and his family were draining the well dry to clean it when the smell became unbearable. “Our eyes began to tear up from the strong smell of fuel,” he said.
The following day, Usman informed the panchayat officials, who failed to respond promptly. However Usman’s experiment with the well water, where he drew some water from the well and dropped a matchstick in the vessel, went viral, forcing authorities to take cognizance of it.
“We called up the fire station in the morning (Thursday) and they arrived on the spot to check the wells,” he said.
Usman said about three people including representatives of the oil company running the petrol station collected samples of the water.
Representatives of Indian Oil Company whose station is located 50 metre away from the well visited the spot and closed the petrol Pump on Thursday. The oil station is being monitored for shortages.
ACP Mangaluru North Rama Rao said: “The families have been raising an objection against the petrol pump since 2013. However it is a wonder how the petrol reached the wells from such a distance,” he said.