CUTTACK: A 45-year-old street food vendor sustained severe burn injuries after his eatery caught fire following rupture of a nearby underground piped natural gas (PNG) pipeline, at CDA Sector-16 on Tuesday morning.
The incident occurred at around 6.50 am. The injured shop owner Prasanna alias Danger is under treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital.
As per sources, the pipeline of GAIL ruptured while an underground cable was being laid by TPCODL at Moonlight Square. Following the pipeline rupture, gas started leaking from the spot. Prasanna was unaware of the leak and lit the stove at his cart following which fire broke out and started spreading to the other shops nearby. Tyres of a tractor, which was parked near the spot, were also gutted.
On being informed, fire services personnel reached the site and managed to control the blaze due to which it could not affect the other shops in the locality. However, Prasanna’s cart was completely gutted and he too sustained severe burn injuries. As an electric transformer was present near the gas leakage point, power supply was disconnected. Around 5,000 to 6,000 households of Sector-10, besides Sector-13 and Bidanasi areas had to face inconvenience for several hours in the absence of both electricity and cooking gas supply.
City Gas Distribution, Cuttack DGM, Har Gopal Gadi alleged TPCODL staff were laying underground cable by using a horizontal directional drilling machine without informing GAIL. “The PNG pipeline ruptured when the workers were pulling an aluminium pipe after reaming to lay the electric cables. We managed to repair the leakage and started restoring gas supply from 12 pm onwards in phases,” he said.
TPCODL executive engineer Sanjay Mohanty claimed they had informed GAIL about the underground electric cable laying. Locals have demanded a probe into the incident.