ONGC Kakinada Assets Managing Director Prabhal Sen Gupta (right) Kakinada District Collector S. Shan Mohan (centre) and Yanam Regional Administrator Ankit Kumar during a meeting at the Collectorate in Kakinada town on Friday. | Photo credit: BY ARRANGEMENT
Managing Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (Kakinada Offshore Assets) Prabhal Sen Gupta has sought the support of local communities in Kakinada District (Andhra Pradesh) and Yanam in the Union Territory of Puducherry to repair a gas pipeline damaged in a major fire that occurred on August 22, 2025.
In the early hours of 22 August 2025, a major fire broke out after natural gas leaked from an ONGC pipeline as it was being delivered through a 23 km pipeline from an offshore platform in the Bay of Bengal to an offshore power plant on Dariyala Tippa Island in Yanam.
At a high-level meeting attended by officials from Kakinada district, Yanam authorities and public representatives on Friday, Mr. Prabhal Sen Gupta said, “We have already prepared the ground to start the pipeline repair work,” and sought support from local communities to complete the task.
Compensation: Meanwhile, the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) is studying the environmental damage and impact of the fire on marine life in Yanam and adjacent coastal strips including the Kakinada coast. On the impact of the fire on marine life, Kakinada City MLA Vanamadi Venkateswara Rao said that marine resources, especially fish species, were affected by the fire.
Responding to queries from members of the public, including Mummudivaram MLA Datla Subba Raju and former minister Yanam Malladi Krishna Rao, Kakinada District Collector S. Shan Mohan said talks would be held with representatives of ONGC-Kakinada to compensate fishermen who suffered losses due to poor catch of fish near Dariyala Tippa Island. Yanam Regional Administrator Ankit Kumar and other officials were present.
Published – 14 Nov 2025 21:24 IST
