4 dead, 5,000 evacuated after ONGC plant fire

A major fire broke out on Tuesday morning at ONGC’s oil and gas processing complex at Uran near Navi Mumbai. The fire and the resulting explosions led to the death of three security personnel and one company official.

The fire also partially knocked down the processing facility, which has resulted in a shortage of CNG at fuel stations across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

ONGC tweeted early in the morning that there was a fire in the plant’s stormwater drain but it was doused within two hours by the firefighting team.

The PSU’s robust crisis mitigation preparedness helped put off a major fire in a very short time, it added. Cooling operations are now underway.

The ONGC industrial complex processes oil and gas produced at the Bombay High oilfield. An ONGC corporate communication official said that as a precautionary measure, the gas from Bombay High has been diverted to ONGC’s Hazira plant near Surat.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said firefighting personnel Eranna Nayaka, Mahendra Kumar and Satish Prasad lost their lives.

The explosions rattled the residents in the neighbouring villages and, as a precautionary measure, about 5,000 of them were relocated. Janardhan Bhoir of Navghar village said that houses within a 1 km vicinity of the plant were evacuated. The flames were so high that the leaves of 30-foot-tall trees were burnt, said residents.

Fire brigade personnel of JNPT and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation also helped douse the fire. The area around the plant is considered sensitive due to its proximity to the JNPT port and the strategic assets of the Navy.

Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) Chairman Sanjay Bhatia told BusinessLine the help of the MPT fire brigade was also offered to ONGC.

Here's a video of the ONGC complex where the fire broke out.

The ONGC said there was no impact on oil processing and that the gas was diverted to its Hazira plant in Surat district of Gujarat. The ONGC complex processes all the oil and gas, which gets produced at Bombay High oil fields.

“Fire broke out in storm water drainage in Uran Plant early morning successfully doused within two hours by fire fighting team. #ONGCs robust crisis mitigation preparedness helped put off this major fire in a very short time,” the ONGC said in a tweet.

Earlier, in another tweet, it said, “A fire broke out in storm water drainage early morning 2day in Uran oil & gas processing plant.ONGC fire services & crisis management team immediately pressed in2 action. Fire is being contained. No impact on Oil processing.Gas diverted to Hazira Plant.

Situation is being assessed.

Nearly 22 fire brigade tenders, including that of the ONGC, Navi Mumbai civic body and other agencies, were at the spot, the police official said.

The injured persons were admitted to nearby hospitals for treatment, he said. The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, he added.

The area around the plant is sensitive due to the close proximity of the JNPT port and strategic assets of Indian Navy. Chairman of Mumbai Port Trust (MPT), Sanjay Bhatia told BusinessLine that if required fire brigade from MPT could also be deployed.

“There was a fire at the Uran ONGC processing plant today morning. The fire took place in the drainage portion due to a gas leakage. The fire was discovered at 7:15 AM and by 9:30 AM it was contained. The last information I have is prior to going for the Union Cabinet meeting, according to the ONGC Chairman and Managing Director, four lives have have been lost in the accident. This is a very tragic incident. Our officers are at the location and assessing the situation. There is no crisis but an unfortunate accident has taken place,” Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan said.

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