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The three Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, are implementing a contingency plan to restore normalcy in petroleum supplies in the flood-affected areas of Jammu & Kashmirat the earliest.
Senior OMC officials, camping at Jammu and Srinagar, are carefully monitoring the situation. In view of the continuing inaccessibility of Kashmir Division from Jammu through the arterial national highway (1A), alternative routes identified by the State and district administrations are being explored to expedite loads to the flood-affected areas.
Arrangements are being made for moving LPG cylinders in small vehicles through alternative routes till such time NH-1A is reopened for heavy vehicular traffic, said M Kali Krishna, General manager of Indian Oil Corporation.
As part of rescue supplies, over 50 loads of petrol and diesel and over 30 loads of LPG cylinders were dispatched to Kashmir Division by road through alternative routes onpriority from as far as Kargil, Leh, Chandigarh, Jalandhar and Bahadurgarh in the last three days.
These loads are in addition to the many trucks stranded onthe highways and major roads en route to Srinagar and Kargil, some of which arebeing diverted to the nearest accessible petrol pumps.
Arrangements have beenmade for dispatch of more loads on a daily basis, depending on restoration of road connectivity with various parts of Kashmir Division, including Srinagar and Anantnag.
With many petrol pumpsin the Kashmir valley rendered inoperable by flood waters, suppliers, vendorsand contractors have been lined up for carrying out quick repair of equipmentat these petrol pumps and restore supplies at the earliest.
Teams from Indian OilCorporation's aviation fuelling service are working round-the-clock atSrinagar, Jammu, Leh and Chandigarh airports as well as at Awantipur air forcebase to cater to the additional re-fuelling requirements of rescue operationsundertaken by the Indian armed forces and the State administration.
Two tank-trucks with petrol and diesel loads each have been airlifted by IAF fromAmbala for flood-relief operations in Srinagar. More are planned as perrequirement.
Priority supplies of diesel are being arranged for telecomoperators to enable them to restore mobile communication services, he said.
The petroleum installations of OMCs at Jammu, Kargil and Leh have adequate stocks of petrol,diesel and LPG to take care of any contingency, and are being continuouslyreplenished from upcountry bulk storage locations.
Petroleum installations inSrinagar also have adequate stock for release as and when road movement in thearea is restored.
The OMC operations arebeing coordinated by the State-Level Coordinator, Oil Industry, J&K workingin close liaison with the State Government and district administrations.
High level teams are on standby for rendering all possible assistance in respect of petroleum supplies.
