Panic stricken residents took to social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp as a strong gas leak was suspected in Nerul
Navi Mumbai: On Tuesday, 28th September, a strong smell, resembling that of a gas leak, starting going around in several sectors of Nerul, and later, to surrounding nodes like Belapur, up to Kharghar. The smell was at it’s strongest at 2 PM and dissipated over the next few hours.
However, local Facebook communities and Whatsapp groups were abuzz with messages from concerned residents of Navi Mumbai, all wanting to know how bad the situation was.
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and Mahanagr Gas Limited (MGL) were apprised of the situation through panic stricken calls and messages from all around the affected areas of the city.
As NMMC enquired around the MIDC areas in Nerul and Taloja, the MGL delegated a task force to check for possible leakages in the gas pipelines.
The MGL first informed about their awareness and acknowledgement of the situation on their official twitter handle:
Part 1 –
— Mahanagar Gas Ltd. (@mahanagargas) September 28, 2021
MGL has been receiving complaints of gas smell from various parts of Navi – Mumbai since around 2PM on 28th September 2021. Our emergency teams equipped with gas detection equipment have visited few areas from where such complaints were received.
Later in the evening, the MGL once again informed through twitter, that after a thorough inspection of gas pipes, with the help of gas detection equipment, they could not find any leaks.
Part 2 –
— Mahanagar Gas Ltd. (@mahanagargas) September 28, 2021
The gas detection equipment have not indicated any natural gas leakage. We have also not come across any breach in our pipeline system which could result in leakage of gas.
The incident however, had already sent Navi Mumbai citizens in a panic mode and they had started discussing on facebbok groups, whatsapp groups and by tagging concerned authorities on their official Twitter handles.
By evening, the smell had abated but there was no confirmation of the origin of the smell, and speculations ran around from this to that.
The MGL asserted that there was no leakage in their pipelines and the NMMC informed that there were no reports of any such incidents in both the MIDC areas – Nerul MIDC and Taloja MIDC.
Apparently, the source of smell, as informed by the BMC to the NMMC, was a Chembur based plant which emits gases on a regular basis.
In general conditions, the gas emitted from the plant is said to dissolve in the air, but the humidity and cloudy weather on Tuesday, seems to have worsened the effect of the gas in the atmosphere.
Whatever the case, residents of Navi Mumbai were a scared lot and questioned if the city was well equipped to handle any such disaster, given the fact that both MIDCs have been polluting the city beyond limits.
The common question here is – If a regular gas emission can be so unbearable, what would a leakage in one of the MIDCs do to Navi Mumbai?
Last Updated on October 1, 2021 by lp@admin
