Vibration can be felt in the entire area as the gas with a deafening noise has been rushing out through four huge pipelines joined to the outlet pipeline nicknamed 'Christmas Tree'.

Gas is also leaking out through thousands of holes spread out in the area. Gas is even leaking through the River Titas and Loiska Beel.

Residents of nearby Shyampur and Anandapur villages have been living in fear of a looming catastrophe since the leakage turned worse.

According to sources, the Petrobangla recently authorised Bapex, a local gas exploration company, to control the gas leakage of the third well.

The well was about to explode as gas pressure increased unexpectedly after Bapex engineers applied a liquid into the well to control gas pressure inside it.

The Bapex engineers barely averted a disaster that day as they successfully released a huge amount of gas to reduce the excessive pressure in the well.

Although the Bapex engineers installed four additional pipe outlets to let the gas out, pressure in the well is not normal yet, said one of the sources.

High officials and engineers of Patrobangla, Bangladesh Gas Field Company Limited (BGFCL) and Bapex are now monitoring the situation closely.

M Mujibur Rahman, secretary of BGFCL, confirmed that the gas pressure rose alarmingly in the third well during the Bapex engineers' attempt to control its leakage.

A BGFCL official on condition of anonymity expressed his doubts about the local engineers' capability to fully stop the gas leakage.

Excessive gas pressure in the third well runs the risk of damaging adjacent gas wells as well, speculated experts.

Worried day labourers in the area have been demanding double the pay for working in crop fields while many panic-stricken villagers already moved out of their homes.

Omar Ali from Shyampur village complained that the BGFCL authorities did not pay attention to the leakage problem when the villagers informed them of the matter about a year ago. It is a sign of sheer neglect and disrespect to the affected people of the area as the authorities, after such a long time, are only now trying to control the leakage.