Floods Trigger Major Safety Scare at HPCL Patalganga Plant; Around 3,000 LPG Cylinders Swept Away
District Administration Issues Urgent Public Advisory as Floodwaters Inundate HPCL's LPG Bottling Facility in Maharashtra
In a major industrial safety incident triggered by relentless monsoon rains, nearly 3,000 LPG cylinders were swept away from Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited’s (HPCL) Patalganga LPG Bottling Plant in Maharashtra’s Raigad district after severe flooding inundated the facility.
According to district authorities, the incident occurred after floodwaters entered the HPCL bottling plant located in the Additional MIDC area at Chavane in Panvel taluka, carrying both filled and empty LPG cylinders into the swollen Patalganga River. The unprecedented incident has raised significant public safety concerns, prompting the Raigad district administration to issue an urgent advisory.
Raigad District Administration has appealed to residents not to touch, retrieve, transport, or attempt to open any LPG cylinder found floating in the river or washed ashore. Authorities cautioned that it is impossible to determine whether the cylinders still contain LPG or whether they have sustained damage, making them potentially hazardous.
The administration has advised citizens to immediately inform HPCL officials, the nearest authorised HPCL LPG distributor, or local government offices if they locate any of the missing cylinders. Recovery operations are underway to trace and safely retrieve the cylinders carried away by the floodwaters.
Videos of hundreds of red LPG cylinders floating downstream in the Patalganga River have gone viral on social media, drawing widespread attention. Reports also suggest that despite repeated warnings, some people were seen attempting to retrieve the cylinders from the floodwaters, prompting renewed appeals from authorities to avoid risking their lives and creating further safety hazards.
The incident has disrupted operations at one of HPCL’s key LPG bottling facilities and highlights the vulnerability of critical energy infrastructure to extreme weather events. Maharashtra has been witnessing intense rainfall over the past few days, leading to flooding, waterlogging and disruption across several districts.
As recovery efforts continue, officials have urged the public to cooperate with the administration and strictly follow safety advisories until all missing cylinders are accounted for.
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