Negligence by BWSSB personnel leads to blasts at several homes in Bengaluru neighbourhood, 3 injured

#Karnataka #Bengaluru
3 persons were seriously injured after a GAIL pipeline broke and gas leaked into a couple of houses causing an explosion in HSR layout 7th sector. BWSSB was digging the road when the pipe broke. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/Qddfbi1npG

— Kiran Parashar (@KiranParashar21) March 16, 2023

The injured were identified as Mubashara (40), Laikha Anjum (48) and Zubair (26). The incident took place around 8 am, when a JCB earth mover deployed by the BWSSB was digging a manhole chamber for some repair works. According to a source, the loader bucket of the earth mover damaged the pipeline but personnel engaged in the work neither filled it with mud nor informed anybody about the incident.

Around 9 am, when Anjum entered her kitchen to cook breakfast for the family and lit the lighter, a blast took place which triggered the other blasts and people ran out of their homes in panic.

Anjum is presently being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Victoria Hospital after she suffered 40 per cent burn injuries. Mubashara has suffered burn injuries on the face, hands and legs while Zubair suffered minor injuries with shards of glass stuck to his body in several places.

The family blamed BWSSB for the incident. Jaffar Pasha, brother of Mubashara, told the media that his brother had cautioned the JCB operator about the GAIL pipeline but none cared about it.

A BWSSB official said that the contractor was directed to attend an underground drain blockage complaint in the area and the JCB operator did not notice the gas pipeline passing through the chamber. He expressed surprise at how a GAIL pipeline went through a chamber. He also admitted that the JCB operator did not inform the contractor and the BWSSB.

A statement issued by the GAIL read, “A fire incident has been reported in the Bengaluru city due to unauthorized third party damage to the GAIL Gas network at 23rd Cross, HSR layout. Local contractor associated with Water and Sewerage Agency caused the damage without any prior intimation to/consent of GAIL Gas and didn’t even inform regarding the gas leakage and fled the site. The gas caught fire in the nearby dwelling area wherein 2 occupants reported to suffer minor burn injuries apparently due to the above. The GAIL Gas Quick Response Team (QRT) and fire fighting team reached the site in less than 5 minutes and extinguished the fire and controlled the situation.”

It added, “It is also learnt that in the past similar incidents have been reported against the erring contractor. The conduct of the erring contractor has been reported to the authorities, who have assured strict action. GAIL Gas urges all the residents and authorities of Bengaluru to immediately advise all contractors to give prior intimation to GAIL Gas before executing any digging work nearby Gas pipeline and also report such incidents to our toll free number 1800-102-9282. It is also urged to exercise extreme care while undertaking any such digging work near the vicinity of the Natural Gas Pipeline.”