Fire erupts after digging damages MGL pipeline in Juhu

Mumbai: Five labourers who were engaged in road concretisation work in Juhu sustained burn injuries on Friday due to a fire that erupted after an earthmover hit the Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL) pipeline. Five shops were gutted in the blaze before it was doused by fire brigade officials, while gas supply in the area was suspended temporarily as a precautionary measure. Residents blamed chaotic and haphazard digging by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the incident.

The fire broke out opposite the Juhu post office on AB Nair Road at 11.56am and it was doused by fire brigade officials at 12.18pm.

“While road digging work was underway, the hook of the JCB (earthmover) got lodged in the gas pipeline and a fire broke out due to the friction and the high pressure. Unfortunately, the labourers who were present at the spot sustained burn injuries,” said Vishal Gawde, a fire brigade official who helped douse the flames.

The injured labourers were identified as Narsimha Fagilla, 50, Wazir Hussain, 30, Shantilal Chaudhary, 24, Asif Hussain, 30 and another unidentified person. They were admitted at Cooper hospital for treatment, and their condition was said to be stable.

The incident came to light after Juhu resident and actor Soni Razdan put up a post on social media platform X, stating, “A gas pipe has burst and a fire has broken out at AB Nair Road in Juhu. @MumbaiPolice @mybmcwardKW please can someone come and control the traffic here. BMC really must be more careful with huge JCBs as the work is being carried out with zero supervision and randomly by the looks of it if they’re able to break gas pipes!”

A resident of Silver Beach Apartments off AB Nair Road, who did not wish to be identified, said the incident led to massive traffic snarls. “Gas pipes are being laid beneath our road, while concretisation work has been ongoing for the last six months. We don’t mind our roads being dug up, but there must be some signage indicating which lane is open for traffic,” said the resident. The lack of signages caused confusion among motorists and led to huge backlog, such that there was no space for cars to move on the road, the resident added. Another resident blamed fire tenders parked in front of the Greenfields society for the traffic snarls and chaos.

An MGL spokesperson said the pipeline was damaged by a third-party contractor. “As a safety precaution, gas supply was suspended in the area and affected customers were intimated via SMS. Rectification work is in progress and gas supply is expected to be restored by 8pm tonight,” said the spokesperson.

“The injured workers were not on the BMC’s payroll. They were appointed by the firm engaged in conretisation of roads and construction of drains in the area.” said a K west ward official.