BPCL detects leakage in fuel pipeline, local MLA calls for regular audit of sensitive pipeline

Mumbai: The BPCL officials on Saturday continued to search for possible leakages in the Mumbai-Manmad-Bijwasan fuel pipeline that supplies petroleum products to Delhi and appeared to have detected one leakage and carried out repair work on it.

On the second consecutive day, the BPCL team continued to camp in the area and the police had cordoned off the entire area as the officials carried out digging the ground to detect any possible leakages in the highly sensitive pipeline.

“Four fire engines, two water tankers, one foam engine, one emergency vehicle, four suction machines, two oil tankers and two JCBs were deployed at the spot. Officials from the disaster management cell, local police, Thane Municipal Corporation, and traffic police are at work” said an RDMC official.

While BPCL officials claimed that the pipeline was not damaged in anyway, the local Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MLA Raju Patil, who visited the area on Friday, said the BPCL should carry out regular inspections of the pipeline as it passes through densely populated civilian areas.

“There is sufficient evidence on the ground that there was a leakage. I was reminded of images of oil wells on fire during the Kuwait war. Pilferage possibility should be investigated. It is a sensitive pipeline that passes through civilian areas, and BPCL does not seem to be inspecting it properly. They should carry out an audit every three months. Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) has put up boards alerting people to underground pipeline, but BPCL has not put up any boards in the area,” said the lone MNS MLA in Maharashtra assembly.

According to Avinash Sawant, chief of RDMC said, “Two JCB machines are digging at around 500 meters and one leakage in the pipeline has been detected and BPCL team is trying to repair the rupture and also looking for any other leakage in the pipeline. Traffic police had to regulate traffic in the area.”

Avinash Sawant, chief, RDMC said, “Prima facie, the fire broke out at an underground electric cable and later blaze began spreading into a transformer and it exploded.”

A local resident claimed that a clamp on a valve was reportedly seen in the BPCL pipeline, indicating that the fuel was being stolen from the pipeline. “It is a danger zone because electric cables, BPCL pipeline and GAIL pipeline pass underground and high-tension wires are in the sky,” he said.

Senior police inspector Sachin Gawade said, “After digging about nine feet deep, the BPCL officials found one leakage, and it is being repaired it.” Asked about the allegation of possible pilferage from the pipeline, Gawade said, “One tap was found nearby the leakage but we cannot say whether it belongs to BPCL or any other. We will get information when BPCL officials approach us about it.”

Deputy Commissioner Ganesh Gawade, Zone 1 , Thane police said, “We have not received any kind of complaint from BPCL officials yet”.

When contacted, a BPCL spokespersons said, “The fire and explosion was in the transformer. BPCL team rushed there to secure the pipeline, which is not damaged. Immediately fuel supply was stopped, and that section was segregated by closing the valves. Ur team is carrying inspection, and supply will resume in eight 8-10 hours.”

Asked about the allegations of pilferage, he said, “The possibility of someone trying to tamper with the pipeline cannot be ruled out, but the pipeline has automatic sensors, and if any significant volume is removed, and there is any change in pressure in the pipeline, it will automatically alert the central command.”

Earlier, On Friday around 6 am, a 35-year-old man was killed and an autorickshaw driver sustained injuries after a fire broke out due to an explosion in an underground electric cable and transformer in the Shilphata area in Diva, said Regional Disaster Management Cell, (RDMC), Thane official. The deceased identified as Vishal Singh who was sleeping in the RK Tyres shop near Hanuman Hotel died of burn injuries after he failed to escape from the shop. An autorickshaw parked nearby was also severely damaged due to the explosion.