New Delhi: The magnitude of last month's fire
at the Indian Oil Corporation depot in Jaipur was so massive
that it left no time to respond despite a disaster management
plan in place, the government told the Lok Sabha on Friday.
"Despite having the disaster management and all safety
devices in place ..., it could not be put in use to fight the
fire in view of the nature and magnitude of the disaster
leaving no time to respond," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora
said in a statement in the Lok Sabha.
The fire at the IOC depot broke out on October 29 and
continued for nearly 13 days. 11 persons, including six IOC
employees, were killed and 100 injured in the blaze in which
petroleum products worth Rs 191 crore were destroyed.
The Petroleum Ministry had convened a meeting on November
three of CEOs of pubic and private oil companies in the
country where it was agreed that all companies shall take
measures to promote safety consciousness and training of
safety requirement at all levels.
"All oil and gas installations will have their safety
audit done on quarterly basis," Deora said adding that all
major as well as minor incidents in any such installations/
setups in the country including that of private companies will
be reported to Oil Industry Safety Directorate.
Deora said the IOC has announced an ex-gratia payment of
Rs 10 lakh to those who lost their lives, Rs two lakh to those
who were seriously injured and Rs one lakh to those who
suffered minor injuries. This is in addition to the
compensation offered by the government, he said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, November 20, 2009, 15:34