For a few hours on Friday morning, a cluster of villages in Maoist-hit Dantewada believed it was a miracle. That they had struck liquid gold, and their wells had magically turned into oil wells overnight.
The villagers brought out buckets of gasoline. Nearby villages also joined. There was plenty to go around! Land fees would skyrocket, they thought. But the euphoria faded as police and district officials swarmed the villages, going door-to-door asking for the return of the petrol.
Power supply shut down to avoid ‘disaster’ at MP petrol spill site
The oil-on-the-day labor drama happened in the Geedam region. When residents of some villages went to the wells for their morning ablutions, they were surprised to smell gasoline. When they pulled up buckets of water, they got gasoline.
News spread like wild animals. Happy villagers collected the oil in the bucket. The “happy news” also reached the administration. Concerned about the risk of a fire disaster, officials rushed teams to the villages. Officials of a petroleum PSU also arrived. They found that wells were indeed swimming with gasoline.
A quick check revealed that the owner of a nearby fuel pump was distraught over losing 14,000 liters of petrol and had filed a police report, suspecting it was stolen. Officials believe the gasoline leaked from a 16,000-gallon underground reservoir.
The police have shut down the wells to ensure there is no accident. Firefighters have been deployed. The electricity supply was shut off for fear that a spark would trigger a disaster and roads were barricaded for hours. People have been asked not to use flammable items until the all-clear has been given.
Dantewada Collector Jayant Nahata said one well was affected but villagers say petrol was found in several wells. After a preliminary investigation, police say the reservoir was ruptured and the gasoline found its way to groundwater channels and ended up in wells. The police are going around collecting buckets of petrol and the region is cordoned off until further notice.
Nahata told TOI that an inquiry was ordered. Hindustan Petroleum was asked to hold a probe as well and help with remedial measures. A thorough testing of 21 samples of ground sources, including soil and water collected from the area around the petrol pump, was done with no trace of smell or petrol in them. A well was found contaminated. Petrol is extracted from it with the help of pumps, he added.