Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora today introduced the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Amendment Bill, 2010, in the Lok Sabha.
The Bill proposes to amend Sections 15 and 16 of the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962, to strengthen the enforcement mechanism and penal provisions more stringent for pilferage of crude oil and petroleum products.
Since crude oil and petroleum products are very costly, any spillage is a financial loss to the company, besides being a disruption in the supply of crude oil or finished products, damage to cultivable soil, as well as loss of life and property, in case of a fire, etc. Despite regular patrolling and inspection of the pipelines, incidents of pilferage and sabotage by anti-social elements have been frequent in case of various pipelines.