Chance discovery of natural gas from a remote village in Odisha's Kendrapara district has left the native settlers jubilant.
With drinking water becoming scarce, 60-year-old farmer Sadasiv Mallik had embarked on the work to dig out a tubewell at the backyard of his house in Mathasahi village.
Mallik said he had nurtured the hope that water from the tubewell would meet with his family's potable water needs, besides catering to the requirement of neighbours.
However, to his surprise, the dug-out well emitted gaseous substances instead of water. After 50 m of digging, the tubewell work was suspended as odour of natural gas engulfed the air, Mallik said.
As reports of gas emission spread fast, people from the village and neighbouring areas made a beeline to the site.
With caustic smell of gas spreading everywhere, the panicked plumbers engaged in digging, left work in a hurry.
"The dug out hole caught fire following the lighting of a match stick. We are in a state of panic. Officials have visited the spot assuring us not to get worried. We have been told that it's a thin source of natural gas," Mallik said.
For many villagers, it was a miraculous occurrence. "God has endowed the village with a natural gas source. The government needs to conduct scientific study so that it can be used for human needs," said Ajay Bebarata, a local resident.
"It appears that there was emission of natural gas from the partially dug out tubewell by the farmer. The administration is taking up the matter with Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) and Geological Survey of India (GSI) authorities," said Kendrapara Collector Debraj Senapati.
Three years back a similar incident of gas emission from a tubewell had come to light in Mantripada village under Derabish block. Experts and researchers had then made on-spot assessments of the release of gas from the well. Sample study had confirmed presence of natural gas.
The researchers had, however, said that the volume of gas locked up in the rocky layer beneath the tubewell's water source was limited. The emission of gas from Mathasahi village this time might also be of limited scale, officials said.
