Strong smell of Butane gas is widely spread in Pa Da Myar ward, located in the suburb of Mingalardon Township, Yangon, Myanmar. The smell has been spreading since January 27th and it is coming from soil surface. “We could smell Butane gas. So we checked our gas lighters inside our homes but there were no leaks. We have asked our neighbours around and they also do not use gas related items and at last we found out that the smell is coming from the soil surface.” told by one of the residents of Pa Da Myar ward. We are afraid of a potential explosion. That is why we have reported to the ward superintendent and later to the officials. There’s a no-smoking sign there now.” He added.
Later, officials from Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprises (MOGE) of Ministry of Energy came and inspected the place and confirmed that the smell came from surroundings, not from soil surface. However it is confirmed that it is the smell of Butane gas. “Yes, it is the smell of gas that we put in gas lighter. But it is not from the soil surface. It is coming from surroundings. We think it is the result of reaction between dried leaves and humus. We can only confirm that it is coming from surrounding place but cannot confirm the source yet.” one of the officials from Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprises explained. “We currently can confirm that it is the smell of the reaction between dried leaves and humus”, he mentioned.
But residents from Pa Dar Myar Ward are still having strong smell of Butane gas and they are worried about the impending explosion and also worried about their health. Ward superintendent and other officials assumed that husk of rice can block the holes located on the soil surface. So they spread those husks over the ground. “Even though they’ve put husk over the surface, we are still having that smell”; we were told by the residents of Pa Da Myar ward.
Most of the citizens who have heard or read that news are not satisfied with the job being done by Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprises (MOGE), a government organization. They argued that officials
should use some kind of technologies like gas detectors rather than relying on their own instinct. And most of the educated people do not agree with the reason given. They said smell of Butane gas cannot be produced by the reaction between dried leaves and humus.
