Sagar(Madhya Pradesh): Villagers in the Banda area of the district were left awestruck when instead of water, a sudden spurt of fire broke out from the bore of a hand pump. The incident took place when a bore was being dug for handpump here. The incident seemed nothing less than a miracle to the villagers, while it took no time for the news to reach the nooks and corners of the village.
As informed by an eye witness, the fire started spewing up after a loud noise below the ground, which further dramatized the 'miracle'. "Due to the prolonged shortage of drinking water, there was a plan to install handpump here, for which a bore was being dug. After digging for about 450 feet, the machine stopped working. People heard a noise emerging from the bore and immediately, flames started emerging from the bore. Chaos gripped the village soon," the eye-witness said.
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RK Trivedi, retired professor of the Geology Department at the Sagar University, however debunked the notion that the incident is a miracle. He stated that it is rather a common happening, giving scientific reasons for it. "The release of flammable gas is not a miraculous event. It has not happened here for the first time. Several incidents like this one have happened in the past as well. This happens because of the presence of layered rocks in the Vindhayn basin here. The flames will douse automatically after some time."
Further ruling out the possibility of the presence of gases here, Trivedi said, "Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been working here for a long time and they have found a possibility of the presence of natural gas near Damoh's Hata. But I do not see such possibility here."
