Explosion from gas leak injures two in Delhi Colony

Nearby vendors claim this was the eighth incident in the past month

KARACHI: At least two people were seriously injured after a fireball caused by accumulated methane in a sewerage system ripped apart a section of the main road in Delhi Colony on Friday. Several bystanders were left with burnt hair and missing eyelashes.

Shoppers at the main market in Clifton's Delhi Colony ran for their lives as flames as high as 25 feet leaped out of ventilating holes in concrete slabs with a loud blast. The blast occurred due to a leak in the three-inch gas pipeline, which was suffering from corrosion, claimed officials.



The powerful blast broke the cement slabs, burning all the clothes of a beggar sitting nearby. A vegetable vendor also received serious injuries and was rushed to the hospital.



"This is the eighth incident in the past month," said Akthar Kayani, a vegetable vendor, whose dark black hair turned grey after they caught fire. "We have done everything we can to get the attention of the authorities — sent them complaints, made phone calls and even contacted the local councillor. But no one from the gas company bothered to show up."

A pungent methane smell has been hovering in the air for days and explosions occur when someone lights up a cigarette or a matchstick, said a shopkeeper. Around four other people have been injured in the last two weeks.

Sheikh Aquil, the owner of the largest grocery store in the market, has also escaped the fire a couple of times in the past couple of days. "It was a strong gas leak under this shabbily built sewerage system," he said. "I have made a dozen complaints with the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) but no one responded."



SSGC, which boasts of an efficient system to redress customer complaints, acknowledged that its records show a complainant from Delhi Colony approached them on December 18 but no action was taken.



When the explosion took place on Friday, a media person was present on site and he alerted his colleagues at various television channels. The media attention alerted the police and the local SHO showed up to record the statements of the shopkeepers. He also assure that an FIR will be registered against the SSGC.



The SSGC pipeline distribution system that spans over 46,000 kilometres is in desperate need of replacement. The company's managing director, Khalid Rehman, admitted this needs to be done immediately. "We know that pipelines have corroded over the years," he said. "But replacement is an expensive proposition. So we try to replace around 1,000km of old pipelines with new ones every year," he explained.

The SSGC staff that eventually came to Delhi Colony was unable to tell if the gas pipeline was actually going into the sewerage system.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2016.