A few residents of Sengkang have complained of a strong pungent smell and smoke which surrounded some of the areas near Singapore on Monday, 25 September.
The Straits Times, Singapore had received messages from a number of their readers from Sengkang, Seletar, Yishun ,Ang Mo Kio and Bishan describing the smell to be that of "burning", "choking" and even" petrol"
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a statement made on its Facebook page at 10:30 pm that they had been receiving notifications from the public regarding smell of gas in Sengkang and Punggol at about 5 PM.
"NEA officers were deployed to those areas immediately to investigate the smell feedback. Air quality levels during the period were found to be well within safety limits."
They further added that the winds which converged over the northern half of Singapore from about 3 pm may have been the cause of the smell around the northern area of the Lion City. They continue to monitor the situation closely and watch for any change.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) in a post on its Facebook page at 7:42 pm that they have been receiving complaints of gas and burning from the north-eastern part of Singapore
About 20 calls had been made to the SCDF as understood by Straits Times
Lelavathi Annamali, a 68-year-old retiree who lives in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8, told Straits Times that there was "a very strong kerosene smell" around 6 pm.
She went out and returned home at about 7:10 pm and the inside of her home was very smoky, she said.The smoke stung her eyes and affected her throat
Osman Ahmad, a 59-year-old security guard at Seletar Country Club, told ST he noticed the smell of burning chemicals when he left his home at Pasir Panjang around 2:00 pm.
"You could see a layer of smoke on the highway. It looked like a morning fog, which was beautiful but very smelly," he said.
Tina Lim, 49, who works in a bank, said there was a "very strong burnt smell" in the air when she reached her home in Sengkang at about 5.30pm. "It didn't smell like haze. It's like something is burning."
The smell could be detected even in Ang Mo Kio. Vivian Tan, a 35-year-old administration executive, told the news website that she detected a "weird smell" like diesel at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 since 6:40 pm.
The 18-year-old student said the smell had died down somewhat at about 8:00 pm and was most intense between 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm.
Others likened the smell to burning plastic bags.
The smell appeared to have spread to other parts of Singapore later on Monday night, moving towards saying Toa Payoh and even Clementi.
