Oil companies asked to relocate LPG units from petrol pumps
BHUBANESWAR: Wednesday’s explosion of an auto LPG tank in a filling station near Raj Bhawan has raised questions on safety of petrol pumps in thickly populated areas of cities and towns.
As many of the old petrol pumps in the Twin City of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are located in congested areas and can trigger a disaster of unimaginable proportion in the event of a fire, the incident has prompted discussion about ensuring extra safety measures or relocating the filling stations to a safer distance.
While the reason of the explosion is yet to be ascertained, the State Government is reported to have directed the regional heads of the three major oil marketing companies (OMCs) - IOCL, HPCL and BPCL - to relocate the underground auto LPG tanks from filling stations of the city to a safer facility without delay.
The IOCL has two auto LPG facilities in the city including the Raj Bhawan Square Filling Station. The other one at Bhamra petrol pump near CRP Square has been closed.
Holding several rounds of discussions with senior officials of the three OMCs here on Wednesday and Thursday, Cooperation Secretary VV Yadav is stated to have directed oil companies to have a re-look at safety measures of all filling stations and suggest further measures for those petrol pumps located in busy commercial areas like Unit-I and Unit-II markets and the one near Rajiv Bhawan behind the State Secretariat.
Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena, who was part of the discussions, asked the OMCs to doubly ensure safety aspects and offered all possible assistance from the Government to maintain the highest level of fire safety in all filling stations of the city and other busy locations of the State.
Since relocation of petrol pumps needs approval at the highest level of the companies, the OMC representatives said they will convey the Government sentiments to their authorities concerned for suitable action.
IOCL sources said, a four-member team from Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), Mumbai, has reached here but are awaiting entry to the site to carry out investigation.
Describing the explosion as the rarest of rare incident, sources said, never has such a mishap been reported in the past. Cause of the explosion will only be known after a thorough investigation by the expert team.