BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Saturday asked district collectors to strictly enforce ban on sale, supply and storage of petroleum products including petrol and diesel in plastic bottles or other containers, and warned that violators will be prosecuted as per the provisions of law including Petroleum and Explosives Acts.
Issuing a directive to this effect, principal secretary, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare, Sanjay Kumar Singh told collectors that the unfair practice of selling and transporting petroleum products, both motor spirit and high-speed diesel (MS and HSD) in unapproved containers, pose serious threats to public safety and environment. However, petrol and diesel are being widely sold and transported in plastic bottles and unapproved containers.
“Accordingly, the government, under the Petroleum Act, 1934, Petroleum Rules, 2002, Explosives Act, 1884, Motor Spirit and High-Speed Diesel (Regulation of Supply, Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices) Order, 2005, Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and other allied legal frameworks, has decided to carry out strict enforcement against such practices in all districts,” Singh said.
The government has asked the petrol bunks to display the message prominently in both Odia and English. The district collectors have been directed to instruct field officers including civil supplies inspectors, enforcement squads, police, tehsildars and other personnel to conduct spot checks and surprise inspections at retail outlets, fuel stations and suspected retail points, and initiate immediate action against violators found supplying petroleum in plastic or any other unauthorised packaging.
The directive of the state government imposing ban on sale of inflammable substances came in wake of the self-immolation of a 20-year-old girl student at FM Autonomous College in Balasore.