Mori (Andhra Pradesh)

The ONGC expert teams are arriving from Mumbai and Delhi to douse the gas well blaze here in Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district, an official said on Tuesday.

The intensity of the fire got reduced compared to Monday, they added.

A massive jet fire of up to 20 metres height and 25 metres width was ignited around 12:40 pm on January 5 near Mori and Irusumanda villages after a gas leak at an Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)-owned well, Mori-5.

However, the gas well is not operated by the Maharatna company but by its Production Enhancement Contractor (PEC) Deep Industries Ltd, an Ahmedabad-based company.

"They (firefighters) have created a water umbrella to make the temperature cool down, but the flames are still coming, so the expert teams will arrive and they will assess the situation, and accordingly they will take all measures to douse the flames," Konaseema joint collector T Nisanthi told PTI.

She said the expert teams are coming from Mumbai and Delhi. By sprinkling water, all the trees surrounding the fire jet are being cooled off, said Nisanthi, observing that the intensity of flames has reduced compared to Monday.

We are hoping that the flames will be doused at the earliest, she said, noting that all efforts are being made to douse it.

"They will assess the situation first, and only based on the assessment, they will be able to tell," she said when asked for a timeline to completely extinguish the blaze.

Revenue, Police and Fire department officials, along with ONGC, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Red Cross personnel are toiling to extinguish the flames, she said.

As many as 600 people from three villages around the fire were evacuated on Monday for safety.

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Deep Industries Ltd had secured a Rs 1,402-crore contract in 2024 for production enhancement operations at ONGC's Rajahmundry Asset in Andhra Pradesh, according to reports.

The company has been operating the Mori-5 well for about a year, said an ONGC official.