BENGALURU: Two women sustained burn injuries and two houses were damaged in a fire caused due to a leak in a gas pipeline, in 7th sector HSR Layout on Thursday morning. The gas pipeline of the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) is said to have got damaged during sewage works carried out by the BWSSB.
It is said that when gas started leaking from the pipeline, the workers, instead of bringing it to the notice of the authorities, covered the damaged part with mud. But this couldn’t stop the leak and gas spread to the kitchen of the house near the work site.
A woman who was cooking sustained around 25 per cent burns when there was a minor explosion. An adjacent house also caught fire, injuring another woman who was also cooking. “Both the injured women are undergoing treatment at Victoria Hospital and their condition is said to be critical. Their houses have also been damaged,” said an officer.
The HSR Layout Police have taken up a case against the contractor carrying out the sewage work.
Meanwhile, BWSSB Chief Engineer Venkatesh told TNIE, “No one knows how a gas pipeline was constructed below the lid of the manhole. It should never have been done.
When our contractor was attending to a complaint of a sewage block here, it got broken. It is fully dark and no one can see this small pipe with a diameter of half an inch here. The gas flowed to the kitchen of a house where cooking was on. Hence it caught fire. “