Janjivan Bureau / Mumbai : A massive fire at the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s gas processing facility at Uran in Navi Mumbai near here claimed at least four lives and disrupted supply of Compressed Natural Gas to petrol pumps in the city.
Police and fire officials said the fire at a storm water drain at the facility was reported at around 7 am on Tuesday. The fire then spread causing explosions.
“Three firemen belonging to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and one employee died in the fire,” a police spokesman from the state police control room said. He added that several others had been rushed to hospital after they inhaled smoke fumes.
ONGC officials said later in the day that the blaze had been contained and firefighters from the local administration, CISF and other sources were conducting cooling operations.
The fire, however, disrupted supply of gas to Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. ONGC officials said gas arriving to the Mumbai facility was being diverted to its plant at Hazira. Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL), which sources gas for supply in Mumbai and neighbouring cities, said supply of Compressed Natural Gas to petrol pumps in the area had been
disrupted. “We are prioritising supply of piped natural gas (PNG) to domestic consumers,” the MGL said in a statement.
At several places in Mumbai, petrol pumps suspended supply of CNG to automobiles on the grounds that pressure was low.
MGL supplies piped gas to 12 lakh houses and CNG to seven lakh vehicles in Mumbai every day.
