‘Not on my bingo card’: LPG cylinders floating down Maharashtra river stun social media

Videos of hundreds of LPG cylinders floating down Maharashtra’s Patalganga River have gone viral, after floodwaters swept around 3,000 cylinders out of a Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) bottling plant near Panvel in Raigad district.

One social media user remarked that after recent worries over LPG supplies linked to tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, seeing cylinders floating down a river in Maharashtra “wasn’t something anyone had on their bingo card.” Another questioned how floodwaters managed to reach a major LPG bottling facility and carry away such a large number of cylinders, while some compared the visuals to scenes from the film “Pushpa.”

Several locals were seen wading into the swollen river to try to retrieve cylinders as they drifted past, a move the Raigad district administration has strongly warned against. Officials said anyone who finds a cylinder should not keep it or attempt to use it, and should instead hand it over to HPCL or deposit it at local Tehsildar or Sub-Divisional Officer offices.

District Collector Kishan Jawale appealed to residents to stay away from any cylinders found in the river or washed ashore, as authorities continue efforts to trace and recover the missing stock.