Kendrapara (Odisha), April 24: the native settlers in a remote village in Kendrapara district are jubilant after the chance discovery of natural gas during the digging of tubewell in Mathasahi village. The chance find came when a farmer had started digging a tube well in the wake of water scarcity during the summer. The farmer Sadasiba Mallik was surprised when gaseous substances oozed out after digging about fifty feet instead of water. The tube well work has since been suspended as odour of natural gas engulfed the air, locals said adding plumbers working on the tube well called off further digging as caustic smell of gas spread everywhere. As reports of gas emission spread fast, people from the village and neighbouring areas made a beeline to the site. The dug out hole caught fire when a lighted match stick was thrown on it, the locals said.
Soon after the news about the find spread, officials visited the spot assuring the people not to panic. “It appears that there was emission of natural gas from the partially dug out tubewell by the farmer. The administration is taking up the matter with Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) and Geological Survey of India (GSI) authorities,” said Kendrapara Collector Debraj Senapati. Notably, three years ago a similar incident of gas emission from a tubewell had come to light in Mantripada village under Derabish block. Experts and researchers had then made on-spot assessments of the release of gas from the well. Sample study had confirmed presence of natural gas but in a limited scale.
