Blaze still on, investigation ordered
The fire at Indian Oil Corporation’s bulk storage depot at Jaipur last evening is likely to have destroyed petroleum products worth Rs 140-150 crore.
The fire continues to rage at the site, being allowed to burn under controlled conditions, so that the intensity and likely damage is minimised.
The government has constituted a committee headed by former Hindustan Petroleum chairman and managing director M B Lal to enquire into the reasons behind the fire.
So far, six employees are reported missing, and presumed dead, and the number of injured is likely to be 21, said a company release. “The products were insured by ICICI Lombard,” S V Narasimhan, director (finance) told reporters. “The extent of damage and loss in terms of product and property can be assessed only after the fire is fully extinguished,” a press release added.
The Jaipur terminal is an automated one and equipped with state-of-the-art safety and fire-fighting gadgets. However, the magnitude of the fire was too huge to be controlled with available equipment.
Petroleum minister Murli Deora visited the site and announced an ex-gratia payment by IndianOil ranging from Rs 10 lakh each in case of death, Rs 2 lakh each for the seriously injured and Rs 1 lakh each for those with minor injuries. By preliminary reports, the fire started at about 7.30 pm yesterday due to a pipeline leak at one of the petrol storage tanks.
The depot caters to Jaipur and adjoining markets, though the release said HPCL’s recently commissioned terminal at Bagru, near Jaipur, on the Mundra-Delhi pipeline would take care of the requirements in the area, along with other nearby oil depots, at Rewari, etc.
