Fire at oil depot in Jaipur; 6 killed, 150 injured

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Fire at oil depot in Jaipur; 6 killed, 150 injured

NDTV Correspondent, Thursday October 29, 2009, Jaipur

Nearly 19 hours after it started, the fire at the Indian Oil Corporation's fuel depot in Sitapura industrial area on the outskirts of Jaipur is still raging.

Six people have been killed and 150 are injured. Six people are also said to be missing.

300 army men are helping with rescue, as some people are feared trapped in the depot. Experts from Mathura have also been called in to help.

Five-km area around the fire spot has been declared a "danger zone". Five lakh residents in the surrounding area have been moved to safer locations.

Among those who were evacuated were all the patients, doctors and staff of a government hospital and engineering and medical students of 10 hostels.

The IOC has said that they have disconnected the underground pipeline connecting the oil well and the depot.

The administration is also taking all precautionary measures to secure a nearby Indane gas bottling plant.

Cold water mixed with foam has been sprayed on the pipeline of LPG storage tankers located near the petroleum depot to keep it cool and unaffected from the heat generated from the fire.

Assistant Fire Officer at the site has said the intensity of fire has been reduced to 75 per cent and by evening it would die down when the fuel gets fully burnt.

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora reached Jaipur on Friday morning. "Not much can be done about the fire. It will have to be allowed to burn out," he said. He also announced a compensation of Rs 5 to 10 lakh for the injured and the families of the dead.

A high-level committee of the Petroleum Ministry will conduct a probe into the incident.

The chairman of the IOC has said this is the worst fire in the history of the Indian Oil Corporation.

Sitapura industrial area, just 3 km from Jaipur, is a busy place with many heavy electrical industries and a number of engineering colleges.

The fire, which is said to have erupted due to leakage in a petrol pipeline, broke out at about 7.30 pm on Thursday evening when petrol was reportedly being transferred. (How it happened)

Within minutes two dozen fire extinguishers were rushed to the spot but given the 80 lakh litres of petroleum products in the depot the fire spread, rapidly engulfing the entire depot. Soon the state government was forced to seek help from the Union Petroleum Ministry.

"It is a terrible blaze. I have spoken to the Petroleum Minister who is sending a team of officials to the site," Ashok Gehlot, the Chief Minister of Rajastan, said on Thursday.

The blaze could be seen from up to 20 km. The surrounding area has been evacuated and power cut off. The injured have been rushed to three major hospitals of Jaipur including the SMS hospital.

"All the factories and institution operating from the Sitapura industrial area have been asked to shift manpower to a different location. I have spoken to the DGM IOC about bringing the fire under control. The injured have been admitted to the SMS hospital, " said DM Kuldeep Ranka. (At hospital, burn victims share their stories)

"I was working when there was a sudden explosion. All the glass around us was shattered and it fell on us. We ran away from the spot," said one of the injured.

While all the 12 tanks in the IOC depot caught fire, a larger tragedy was averted as the LPG cylinders remained safe. The IOC says it will let the fuel burn itself out. People are keeping their fingers crossed that soon the worst will be over.

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Tags: Oil depot fire

Posted by AKK on Oct 31, 2009

In wake of massive continuing fire in petroleum storage depot at Jaipur on 28/10/09, I would like to apprise you that the managements of theses depots are regulated by safety legislations such as Factories Act and State Rules; The Petroleum Act and Rules made thereunder; The Manufacture, Storage & Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules; The Chemical (Emergency Planning,Preparedness and Response) Rules under the Environment Protection Act,1986 apart from Indian Explosives Act and Rules made thereunder; Indian Electricity Act and Rules madethereunder which lay down meaures to prevent and control accidents. The present accident and consequential disaster amply points out towards non-compliance of the stipulated safety provisions contained in these legislations.I have lot more to say in this regard but time is not permitting. The inquiry ordered by Central Govt. as well as by State Govt. should look into these lapses and should come out with measures and guidelines for petroleum depots to prevent such losses in future.

Posted by AKK on Oct 31, 2009

The burning petroleum fire at IOCL Depot at Sitapur Industrial Area is a matter of worry and concern for all states of India, as such depots exist in many cities. The type of disaster in the Oil Depot of a public sector company,having highest stake in the petroleum sector was never expected.The top brass of IOCL should now wake up and adopt the state of the art technology in the Depots such as remote controlled/actuated valves and mechanisms to prevent fires at the incepient stage, as a full blown fire involving petroleum products is practically difficult to handle due to heat radiations. The wokforce at all levels should also be provided comprehensice 'OSH' training followed by passing of examination, before deployment in the Depots to prevent such disasters.The tank-lorry drivers and cleaners should not be allowed entry in the TLF Gantry and the operations inside the Depots should be closely monitored by persons appointed for purpose.The continuing off-site emergency and the ongoing disaster also pin-points, that the IOCL and the local Authorities responsible for handling disaster had no prior management plan for such a disaster.The petroleum fire in a bulk storage tank can not be extinguished till tank is externally cooled by water and top layer of flammable liquid is covered with thick foam to cut-off air contact with the vaporising flammable liquid layer.It is amply clear from the coverage given by media that all other tanks in the Depot caught fire, as proper preventive action was not initiated at the right time.The seperation distance between tanks also shows that the distancing was not safe by design to take care of the domino effects.The mishap reportedly started with Explosion, which points out to uncontrolled leakage of petroleum products during product transfer operations at about 7:30 PM on 28/10/2009, which caused confined vapour cloud at site,which exploded due to some "spark".This spark could have originated from number of weaknesses/possibilites such as electrical fittings including flame-proof fittings, vehicular ignition, loose battery terminals,short-circuit,smoking,mobile phone,mechanical impact,lighting of match stick etc. etc.The Govt. should have distributed clear health bulletins for the residents to aprise and educate them of precautions to be taken due to black smoke emmissions and presence of damaging levels of pollutants in air due to fire in the petroleum products.

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