ONGC Well Blowout: Fear Continues to Grip Four Villages
The headmaster of the school in the area took the school records along with him before evacuating, so that no complications arise in case everything is lost in the emergency.
Kakinada: It is January 5, 2026 in the afternoon. Some are cooking food. Others are ready to eat. Elders are getting ready for a nap after their lunch. Certain family members have gone to schools to bring their children home for lunch. Agricultural labourers too are heading home for their afternoon meal.
This is the general situation in the four villages of Irusumanda, Lakkavaram, Gubbalapalem and Gudapalli in Malikipuram mandal of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district in Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile, some women in Irusumanda and Lakkavaram villages notice a large cloud-like formation over the Irusumanda village. A few of them remember formation of a similar cloud ahead of the blowout in Pasarlapudi in 2014, when 23 persons died and 16 had been injured. The women fear something is happening when they hear the blasts.
V. Ramesh, son of Lakkavaram sarpanch V. Ammaji, said he finished his lunch and had been moving towards his auto to bring school children back from Malkipuram. When he heard the blast, he immediately alerted the sarpanch to evacuate the village. Soon, announcements started that the village must be vacated.
The headmaster of the school in the area took the school records along with him before evacuating, so that no complications arise in case everything is lost in the emergency.
A. Padmavathi said she had been cooking when she heard the announcement over mike not to light the gas stove or switch on power. “I was shivering as I locked the house without having my meals and proceeded to my relatives’ house,” said Padmavathi.
Though the fire is now under control, many of the people in Irusumanda and Lakkavaram are reluctant to return to their houses from rehabilitation centres. Several of them are complaining of cough, blood pressure and respiratory problems.
Following this, authorities have set up medical camps at the two rehabilitation centres in Lakkavaram and Gubbalapalem villages.
