A gas pipeline of Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) at the Rajaram bridge on Sinhagad Road in Pune caught fire in the early hours of Friday, officials said. The firefighters of the Pune Fire Brigade extinguished the flames with the help of the MNGL team in an operation that lasted for about four hours. No casualties were reported in the incident, they said.
According to the officials, the Fire Department received the information about the blaze at Rajaram bridge around 12.10 am. “It was learnt that gas was leaking from the MNGL pipeline continuously. The fire spread at three points at the junction near Rajaram bridge. Three fire-tenders and a jumbo water tanker were pressed into service,” an officer said.
The police team also reached the spot and stopped the flow of traffic on one side of the Sinhagad Road for a few hours.
Fire officials suspected that the fire was the result of a leak in the pipeline during some digging work carried out by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Limited (MSEDCL) authorities at the spot.