2009 Jaipur fire
Encyclopedia
The Jaipur oil depot fire broke out on 29 October 2009 at 7:30 PM (IST) at the Indian Oil Corporation
(IOC) oil depot
's giant tank holding 8000 kilolitres (2,113,376.3 US gal) of oil, in Sitapura Industrial Area on the outskirts of Jaipur
, Rajasthan
, killing 12 people and injuring over 200. The blaze continued to rage out of control for over a week after it started and during the period half a million people were evacuated from the area. The oil depot is about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south of the city of Jaipur
The incident occurred when petrol was being transferred from the Indian Oil Corporation's oil depot to a pipeline. There were at least 40 IOC employees at the terminal, situated close to the Jaipur International Airport) when it caught fire with an explosion. The Met department recorded a tremor measuring 2.3 on the Richter scale around the time the first explosion at 7:36 pm which resulted in shattering of glass window nearly 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the accident site.
The fire=
The fire was a major disaster in terms of deaths, injury, loss of business, property and man-days, displacement of people, environmental impact in Jaipur
, the capital city of the Indian state of Rajasthan and a popular tourist destination. As per eyewitnesses having factories and hotels around Indian Oil’s Sitapura (Jaipur) Oil Terminal they felt presence of petrol vapour in the atmosphere around 4:00 p.m. on 29 October 2009. Within the next few hours the concentration of petrol vapour intensified making it difficult to breathe. The Ayush Hotel in the vicinity of the terminal asked all its guests to vacate the Hotel to avert any tragedy. The police, civil administration and fire emergency services were oblivious of the situation developing in Indian Oil Terminal.
Around half past six the staff in the terminal had contained the leak and flow of petrol panicked and reported the matter to nearby Sanganer Sadar Police Station. Within the next 30 minutes the local police chief and District Collector
were on the spot along with Indian Oil General Manager, but with no plan to deal with the situation. The nearby industries, which were running second shifts, were cautioned to vacate the area.
At 7:35 p.m. a huge ball of fire with loud explosion broke out engulfing the leaking petrol tank and other nearby petrol tanks with continuous fire with flames rising 30 – and visible from a 30 km (18.6 mi) radius. The traffic on adjacent National Highway No. 12 was stopped leading to a 20 km (12.4 mi) long traffic jam. The Jaipur International Airport is just 5 km (3.1 mi) away from the accident site.
Both the Army and experts from Mumbai were employed on 30 October 2009 to contain the fire, which started when an oil tanker caught fire at the depot in the Sitapura Industrial Area. The district administration disconnected electricity and evacuated nearby areas to limit the damage.
The fire still raged on 31 October 2009, in the Indian Oil Corporation Depot, at Jaipur, after a defective pipe line
leak that set fire to 50000 kilolitres (13,208,601.9 US gal) of diesel and petrol out of the storage tanks at the IOC Depot. By then, the accident had already claimed 11 lives and seriously injured more than 150. The District Administration and Indian Oil Corporation
had no disaster management plan to deal with this kind of calamity. The local fire officers were ill equipped to deal with fire accidents of this magnitude. They remained onlookers and no efforts were made to breach the terminal wall to get closer to kerosene
and diesel tanks to cool them with water jets.
Inventory
Aftermath
Disaster Management Plan
THE DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT, 2005 envisages that each revenue District must have a Disaster Management Plan. While 31 revenue Districts of Rajasthan had placed the Disaster Management Plan on Rajasthan Government website Jaipur District
did not have any Disaster Management Plan. A Disaster Management Plan for Jaipur District has been put on Internet on 17 November 2009 i.e. 20 days after the accident took place on 29 October 2009. In the meanwhileJaipur
suffered two more disasters when Swine Flu infected a number of school children prompting Government to order closure of schools, and derailment of a Train Mandore Express killing six persons and injuring more than 50 persons.
Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board report
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report
Air pollution
across Jaipur
was way above maximum permitted limits when the Indian Oil Corporation
(IOC) depot on the edge of the city was caught fire. It significant effect on the air in in Delhi
or Agra
, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reported.
Almost 60000 kilolitres (15,850,322.2 US gal) of oil in 11 storage tanks went up in flames on the evening of Oct 29 and the blaze raged till Nov 6.
Investigations
The Petroleum Minister of India Murli Deora
had appointed a 5-member committee to investigate the causes of Fire and submit its report within 60 days. The Industries & Education Institutions in Sitapura Industrial Area have filed about 150 complaints with Sanganer Sadar police station about deaths, injury and loss of property due to negligence of Indian Oil Corporation Limited.
Abnormal variation in stock loss beyond permitted limit invites explanation and even disciplinary actions for the officers at the Depots and Terminals. The Competent Authorities for such chargesheeting for Depot level Officers for such lapses are Executive Director (Supplies) and Director (Marketing) who prefer to selectively issue chargesheets to defaulting officers to protect their favorites.
First Information Report
The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jaipur City, Jaipur Mr. Mahaveer Swami ordered registering of a number of First Information Report (FIR) against Indian Oil Corporation Limited officers and Civil Administration for non-performance of statutory duty and negligence.
Section 120B: Punishment of criminal conspiracy
(1) Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable with death, 2[imprisonment for life] or rigorous imprisonment for a term of two years or upwards shall, where no express provision is made in this Code fro the punishment of such a conspiracy, be punished in the same abetted such offence. (2) Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy other than a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable as aforesaid shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding six months, or with fine or with both.]
Section 166: Public servant disobeying law, with intent to cause injury to any person Whoever, being a public servant, knowingly disobeys any direction of the law as to the way in which he is to conduct himself as such public servant, intending to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will, by such disobedience, cause injury to any person, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
Illustration A, being an officer directed by law to take property in execution, in order to satisfy a decree pronounced in Z's favour by a Court of Justice, knowingly disobeys that direction of law, with the knowledge that he is likely thereby to cause injury to Z. A has committed the offence defined in this section.
Section 304A: Causing death by negligence Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.]
Section 511: Punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment
Whoever attempts to commit an offence punishable by this Code with 1[imprisonment for life] or imprisonment, or to cause such an offence to be committed, and in such attempts does any act towards the commission of the offence, shall, where no express provision is made by this Code for the punishment of such attempt, be punished with 2[imprisonment of any description provided for the offence, for a term which may extend to one-half of the imprisonment for life or, as the case may be, one-half of the longest term of imprisonment provided for that offence], or with such fine as is provided for the offence, or with both.
Widows request compensation
Ms. Savita Saroha and Ms. Alka Kumar whose husbands Mr. S. K. Saroha and Mr. Ravindra Kumar died in the Fire on 29 October 2010 have moved to Rajasthan High Court for equitable and fair compensation. The duo allege that they were not given the compensation of Rs. 10,00,000.00 (One Million Rupees) promised by Mr. Murli Deora the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. The widows are also upset that the company Indian Oil and the arrested officers have tried to pass on blame on their husbands. They are now opposing the accused officers in High Court against quashing of First Information Report and grant of bail to them.
Compensation
The State Government promptly announced a cash compensation of Rs. 2,000,000.00 to the dead and in addition Indian Oil Corporation
paid Rs. 10,000,000.00 to the next of the kin of dead and varied amount of compensation between Rs.1,000,000.00 and 2,000,000.00 to the injured. It has been decided to review the location of all Oil Terminals throughout India and shift these terminals beyond city limits within a period of next 12–18 months.
and generation of employment (approximately 1,000,000 direct/indirect workers). The SITAPURA INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION has played an important role in exports and generation of foreign exchange. That on 29 October 2009 at about 4:00 p.m. some leakage of Petrol started in IOC Terminal and by 6:00 p.m. the fumes had spread far and wide in and around the Indian Oil Corporation
terminal. That a huge explosion
and fire
erupted at 7:35 p.m. and the noise and shock waves
were so intense that it gave an impression of an earthquake
to the Industries of the area. The neighboring industries adjacent to the Indian Oil Corporation
terminal suffered major structural damages, loss of inventory, equipment, and finished goods. As a consequence of the Fire and associated hazards the District Collector, Jaipur declared a 5 km. zone as dangerous area and prohibited entry of the persons and vehicles in the area. The SITAPURA INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION claims to have lost Rs.400.00 crore worth of property, equipment and inventory instantaneously on 29 October 2009. Thereafter the loss of production, dispatch and consequent loss of goodwill is valued at Rs. 200.00 Crore per day. The industries were allowed free access to their units since 5 November 2009. The total estimated loss is valued at 1800.00 crore. As an EPZ is part of the SITAPURA INDUSTRIAL AREA it houses a number of export-oriented units. The peak season for the export oriented units was at handshake. Due to fire and subsequent pollution and dispersion of carbon soot particles in atmosphere almost 100% finished garments would fail in stringent quality test and would have to be dumped in the domestic market at throwaway prices. As the industries are most likely to falter on their export commitment, the loss of Goodwill will takes years to rebuild.
Government report
On 10 December 2009, the Indian Minister of State of Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada said the government
today ruled out a C.B.I. / केंद्रीय अन्वेषण ब्यूरो
probe into the November fires and informed the Lok Sabha
and the Indian press that a Committee had- ‘ruled out sabotage or terrorisum', blamed both 'corporate neglect’ and ‘servere radiant heat’ from the October fires, and denied any connection with a similar, but smaller blast that month in Kashmir
./
See also
External links
Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters are in Mumbai, India. It is India’s largest commercial enterprise, ranked 98th on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2011...
(IOC) oil depot
Oil depot
An oil depot is an industrial facility for the storage of oil and/or petrochemical products and from which these products are usually transported to end users or further storage facilities...
's giant tank holding 8000 kilolitres (2,113,376.3 US gal) of oil, in Sitapura Industrial Area on the outskirts of Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
, Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, killing 12 people and injuring over 200. The blaze continued to rage out of control for over a week after it started and during the period half a million people were evacuated from the area. The oil depot is about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south of the city of Jaipur
The incident occurred when petrol was being transferred from the Indian Oil Corporation's oil depot to a pipeline. There were at least 40 IOC employees at the terminal, situated close to the Jaipur International Airport) when it caught fire with an explosion. The Met department recorded a tremor measuring 2.3 on the Richter scale around the time the first explosion at 7:36 pm which resulted in shattering of glass window nearly 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the accident site.
The fire=
The fire was a major disaster in terms of deaths, injury, loss of business, property and man-days, displacement of people, environmental impact in Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
, the capital city of the Indian state of Rajasthan and a popular tourist destination. As per eyewitnesses having factories and hotels around Indian Oil’s Sitapura (Jaipur) Oil Terminal they felt presence of petrol vapour in the atmosphere around 4:00 p.m. on 29 October 2009. Within the next few hours the concentration of petrol vapour intensified making it difficult to breathe. The Ayush Hotel in the vicinity of the terminal asked all its guests to vacate the Hotel to avert any tragedy. The police, civil administration and fire emergency services were oblivious of the situation developing in Indian Oil Terminal.
Around half past six the staff in the terminal had contained the leak and flow of petrol panicked and reported the matter to nearby Sanganer Sadar Police Station. Within the next 30 minutes the local police chief and District Collector
District collector
The District Collector is the district head of administration of the bureaucracy in a state of India. Though he/she is appointed and is under general supervision of the state government, he/she has to be a member of the elite IAS recruited by the Central Government...
were on the spot along with Indian Oil General Manager, but with no plan to deal with the situation. The nearby industries, which were running second shifts, were cautioned to vacate the area.
At 7:35 p.m. a huge ball of fire with loud explosion broke out engulfing the leaking petrol tank and other nearby petrol tanks with continuous fire with flames rising 30 – and visible from a 30 km (18.6 mi) radius. The traffic on adjacent National Highway No. 12 was stopped leading to a 20 km (12.4 mi) long traffic jam. The Jaipur International Airport is just 5 km (3.1 mi) away from the accident site.
Both the Army and experts from Mumbai were employed on 30 October 2009 to contain the fire, which started when an oil tanker caught fire at the depot in the Sitapura Industrial Area. The district administration disconnected electricity and evacuated nearby areas to limit the damage.
The fire still raged on 31 October 2009, in the Indian Oil Corporation Depot, at Jaipur, after a defective pipe line
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
leak that set fire to 50000 kilolitres (13,208,601.9 US gal) of diesel and petrol out of the storage tanks at the IOC Depot. By then, the accident had already claimed 11 lives and seriously injured more than 150. The District Administration and Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters are in Mumbai, India. It is India’s largest commercial enterprise, ranked 98th on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2011...
had no disaster management plan to deal with this kind of calamity. The local fire officers were ill equipped to deal with fire accidents of this magnitude. They remained onlookers and no efforts were made to breach the terminal wall to get closer to kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
and diesel tanks to cool them with water jets.
Inventory
The following products were stored in eleven tanks inside the terminal:
- Petrol (18810 kl (4,969,076 US gal))
- Kerosene (2099 kl (554,497.1 US gal))
- High Speed Diesel (39966 kl (10,557,899.6 US gal))
- Interface (2809 kl (742,059.3 US gal))
Aftermath
About 11 people lost their lives due to burns and asphyxiaAsphyxiaAsphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from being unable to breathe normally. An example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which primarily affects the tissues and organs...
and more than 300 suffered injuries. Many of the dead were the employees of Indian Oil Corporation.
Disaster Management PlanTHE DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT, 2005 envisages that each revenue District must have a Disaster Management Plan. While 31 revenue Districts of Rajasthan had placed the Disaster Management Plan on Rajasthan Government website Jaipur District
Jaipur district
Jaipur District is a district of the state of Rajasthan in western India. The city of Jaipur, which is Rajasthan's capital and largest city, is the district headquarters. It is the tenth most populous district in India .-Geography:...
did not have any Disaster Management Plan. A Disaster Management Plan for Jaipur District has been put on Internet on 17 November 2009 i.e. 20 days after the accident took place on 29 October 2009. In the meanwhileJaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
suffered two more disasters when Swine Flu infected a number of school children prompting Government to order closure of schools, and derailment of a Train Mandore Express killing six persons and injuring more than 50 persons.
Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board report
A Legal Notice has been issued to Indian Oil CorporationIndian Oil CorporationIndian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters are in Mumbai, India. It is India’s largest commercial enterprise, ranked 98th on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2011...
for violating THE WATER (PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF POLLUTION) ACT 1974, THE AIR (PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF POLLUTION) ACT, 1981, and THE ENVIRONMENT (PROTECTION) ACT, 1986.
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reportAir pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
across Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
was way above maximum permitted limits when the Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters are in Mumbai, India. It is India’s largest commercial enterprise, ranked 98th on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2011...
(IOC) depot on the edge of the city was caught fire. It significant effect on the air in in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
or Agra
Agra
Agra a.k.a. Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, west of state capital, Lucknow and south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 , it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most...
, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reported.
Almost 60000 kilolitres (15,850,322.2 US gal) of oil in 11 storage tanks went up in flames on the evening of Oct 29 and the blaze raged till Nov 6.
Investigations
The Petroleum Minister of India Murli Deora
Murli Deora
Murli Deora was the Union Minister of Corporate Affairs Until 12 July 2011. He belongs to Deora Chauhan Rajput community.-Early life:He was born in Mumbai, and did his BA from Mumbai University.Native Place of Murli Deora is lakshmangahr...
had appointed a 5-member committee to investigate the causes of Fire and submit its report within 60 days. The Industries & Education Institutions in Sitapura Industrial Area have filed about 150 complaints with Sanganer Sadar police station about deaths, injury and loss of property due to negligence of Indian Oil Corporation Limited.
Central Bureau of Investigation Case
Variation in stock of liquid petroleum products due to temperature variation, evaporation, handling (and also due to pilferage) result into what is known as stock loss. Percentage stock loss for every product for every depot is fixed based on historical operating data. Monitoring of stock loss is done on shift basis daily.Abnormal variation in stock loss beyond permitted limit invites explanation and even disciplinary actions for the officers at the Depots and Terminals. The Competent Authorities for such chargesheeting for Depot level Officers for such lapses are Executive Director (Supplies) and Director (Marketing) who prefer to selectively issue chargesheets to defaulting officers to protect their favorites.
First Information Report
The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jaipur City, Jaipur Mr. Mahaveer Swami ordered registering of a number of First Information Report (FIR) against Indian Oil Corporation Limited officers and Civil Administration for non-performance of statutory duty and negligence.
Civil Administration
The Director General of Police, Rajasthan to investigate against Mr. B. L. Soni, Inspector General of Police Jaipur Range I, Mr. Kuldeep Ranka, District Collector, Jaipur and Mr. Biju George Joseph, Superintendent of Police Jaipur (East) for commission of offences u/ss 120B, 166, 167, 201, 202, 203, 204, 217, 218, 221 IPC. The order was passed on 10 December 2009, a month after the fire got extinguished.Indian Oil Corporation Limited
As per the orders passed on 4 December 2009 by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jaipur Mr. Mahaveer Swami, the Police Station Adarsh Nagar, Jaipur has registered FIR 337/09 under sections 166, 304A, 511, 120B against 20 accused;- Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC), Through Company Secretary Mr. Raju Rangnathan,
- Sarthak Behuria, Chairman IOC
- B M Bansal, Director (Planning & Business Development) IOC
- S V Narasimhan, Director (Finance) IOC
- V C Agrawal, Director (Human Resources) IOC
- G C Daga, Director (Marketing) IOC
- B N Bankapur, Director (Refineries) IOC
- Anand Kumar, Director (Research & Development) IOC
- K. K. Jha, Director (Pipelines) IOC
- S Sundareshan, Additional Secretary, Ministry Of Petroleum & Natural Gas, & Director IOC
- P K Sinha, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry Of Petroleum & Natural Gas, & Director IOC
- Prof.(Mrs.) Indira J. Parikh, Former Prof. IIM, Ahmedabad and President, FLAME, Pune, & Director IOC
- Anees Noorani, Managing Director, Zodiac Clothing Company Ltd., & Director IOC
- Michael Bastian, Former Chairman & Managing Director, Syndicate Bank, & Director IOC
- Dr.(Mrs.) Indu Shahani, Principal, HR College of Commerce & Economics, Mumbai and Sheriff of Mumbai, & Director IOC
- Prof. Gautam Barua, Director, Indian Institute of Technology GuwahatiIndian Institute of Technology GuwahatiIndian Institute of Technology Guwahati is an autonomous engineering and technology-oriented institute of higher education established by the Government of India, located in Guwahati, in the state of Assam in India...
, & Director IOC - N.K. Poddar, Senior Advocate, Kolkata, & Director IOC
- K. S. Kanoujiya Senior Terminal Manager IOC
- Gautam Bose, General Manager IOC, and
- other unknown accused.
Section 120B: Punishment of criminal conspiracy
(1) Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable with death, 2[imprisonment for life] or rigorous imprisonment for a term of two years or upwards shall, where no express provision is made in this Code fro the punishment of such a conspiracy, be punished in the same abetted such offence. (2) Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy other than a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable as aforesaid shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding six months, or with fine or with both.]
Section 166: Public servant disobeying law, with intent to cause injury to any person Whoever, being a public servant, knowingly disobeys any direction of the law as to the way in which he is to conduct himself as such public servant, intending to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will, by such disobedience, cause injury to any person, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
Illustration A, being an officer directed by law to take property in execution, in order to satisfy a decree pronounced in Z's favour by a Court of Justice, knowingly disobeys that direction of law, with the knowledge that he is likely thereby to cause injury to Z. A has committed the offence defined in this section.
Section 304A: Causing death by negligence Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.]
Section 511: Punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment
Whoever attempts to commit an offence punishable by this Code with 1[imprisonment for life] or imprisonment, or to cause such an offence to be committed, and in such attempts does any act towards the commission of the offence, shall, where no express provision is made by this Code for the punishment of such attempt, be punished with 2[imprisonment of any description provided for the offence, for a term which may extend to one-half of the imprisonment for life or, as the case may be, one-half of the longest term of imprisonment provided for that offence], or with such fine as is provided for the offence, or with both.
Sanganer Sadar Police Station
In addition to the above two more FIR 241/09 dated 2 November 2009 by Mr. Prit Pal Singh of Genus Overseas an Industrial unit in Sitapura and FIR 242/09 dated 3 November 2009 by Mr. B. L. Meharada of BLM Institute have been registered against Indian Oil by Police Station Sanganer Sadar.Sanganer Court
A city court in Sanganer has ordered registering of FIR on the complaint of Ayush Hotel Sitapura.Arrests
On 2 July 2010, eight months after the devastating fire at an Indian Oil Corp (IOC) fuel depot that killed 11 people, police arrested 9 senior company officials including its General Manager on charges of criminal negligence. IOC General Manager for Rajasthan Mr. Gautam Bose and 8 other officers were arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including section 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). Section 304-II of IPC carries a maximum prison term of 10 years. Those arrested in connection with the 29 October fire caused by leakage of petrol during transfer from storage tank, included chief of operations at IOC's Jaipur Office, Mr. Rajesh Sayal. The others arrested are Mr. Shashank Shekhar, Manager Operation, Mr. K S Kanojia, Senior Terminal Manager, Mr. Arun Poddar, Manager Terminal, Mr. Kapil Goyal, Deputy Manager Terminal, Mr. Ashok Gupta, Operation Officer, Mr. Kailash Nath Agarwal, Chargeman, and Mr. S S Gupta, DGM Pipeline who is presently posted in Ghaziabad. While 8 accused have been enlarged on bail, Mr. Ashok Kumar Gupta is still in judicial custody after 4 months. The next hearing in the matter is fixed on 11 November 2010.Widows request compensation
Ms. Savita Saroha and Ms. Alka Kumar whose husbands Mr. S. K. Saroha and Mr. Ravindra Kumar died in the Fire on 29 October 2010 have moved to Rajasthan High Court for equitable and fair compensation. The duo allege that they were not given the compensation of Rs. 10,00,000.00 (One Million Rupees) promised by Mr. Murli Deora the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. The widows are also upset that the company Indian Oil and the arrested officers have tried to pass on blame on their husbands. They are now opposing the accused officers in High Court against quashing of First Information Report and grant of bail to them.
Compensation
The State Government promptly announced a cash compensation of Rs. 2,000,000.00 to the dead and in addition Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters are in Mumbai, India. It is India’s largest commercial enterprise, ranked 98th on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2011...
paid Rs. 10,000,000.00 to the next of the kin of dead and varied amount of compensation between Rs.1,000,000.00 and 2,000,000.00 to the injured. It has been decided to review the location of all Oil Terminals throughout India and shift these terminals beyond city limits within a period of next 12–18 months.
Sitapura Industries Association
The SITAPURA INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION has 1383 units, consisting of 325 garment, 115 jewelers, 110 handicraft, and other units like chemical, cable, manufacturing, IT, BPO, Auto parts, Educational Institutes and Hospitals having an investment of over 75,000 crore. The SITAPURA INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION have played an important part in shaping the economy of the State of RajasthanRajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
and generation of employment (approximately 1,000,000 direct/indirect workers). The SITAPURA INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION has played an important role in exports and generation of foreign exchange. That on 29 October 2009 at about 4:00 p.m. some leakage of Petrol started in IOC Terminal and by 6:00 p.m. the fumes had spread far and wide in and around the Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters are in Mumbai, India. It is India’s largest commercial enterprise, ranked 98th on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2011...
terminal. That a huge explosion
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
and fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
erupted at 7:35 p.m. and the noise and shock waves
Shock Waves
Shock Waves, , is a 1977 horror movie written and directed by Ken Wiederhorn...
were so intense that it gave an impression of an earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
to the Industries of the area. The neighboring industries adjacent to the Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters are in Mumbai, India. It is India’s largest commercial enterprise, ranked 98th on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2011...
terminal suffered major structural damages, loss of inventory, equipment, and finished goods. As a consequence of the Fire and associated hazards the District Collector, Jaipur declared a 5 km. zone as dangerous area and prohibited entry of the persons and vehicles in the area. The SITAPURA INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION claims to have lost Rs.400.00 crore worth of property, equipment and inventory instantaneously on 29 October 2009. Thereafter the loss of production, dispatch and consequent loss of goodwill is valued at Rs. 200.00 Crore per day. The industries were allowed free access to their units since 5 November 2009. The total estimated loss is valued at 1800.00 crore. As an EPZ is part of the SITAPURA INDUSTRIAL AREA it houses a number of export-oriented units. The peak season for the export oriented units was at handshake. Due to fire and subsequent pollution and dispersion of carbon soot particles in atmosphere almost 100% finished garments would fail in stringent quality test and would have to be dumped in the domestic market at throwaway prices. As the industries are most likely to falter on their export commitment, the loss of Goodwill will takes years to rebuild.
Government report
On 10 December 2009, the Indian Minister of State of Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada said the government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
today ruled out a C.B.I. / केंद्रीय अन्वेषण ब्यूरो
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
probe into the November fires and informed the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
and the Indian press that a Committee had- ‘ruled out sabotage or terrorisum', blamed both 'corporate neglect’ and ‘servere radiant heat’ from the October fires, and denied any connection with a similar, but smaller blast that month in Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
./
See also
- 2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fire2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fireThe Buncefield fire was a major conflagration caused by a series of explosions on 11 December 2005 at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal, an oil storage facility located near the M1 motorway by Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, England. The terminal was the fifth largest oil-products...
- Esso Refinery, Milford HavenEsso Refinery, Milford HavenThe Esso Refinery at Milford Haven was an oil refinery situated on the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales. Construction started in 1957 and the refinery was opened in 1960 by Duke of Edinburgh. Construction cost £18million and the refinery had the capacity to process 4.5million tons of crude oil a...
- Grangemouth RefineryGrangemouth RefineryGrangemouth refinery is a mature complex oil refinery located on the Firth of Forth in Grangemouth, Scotland.Currently operated by Ineos, it is Scotland's only oil refinery , and is also the UK's second-oldest; it supplies refined products to customers in Scotland, northern England, Northern...
External links
2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fire
The Buncefield fire was a major conflagration caused by a series of explosions on 11 December 2005 at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal, an oil storage facility located near the M1 motorway by Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, England. The terminal was the fifth largest oil-products...
Esso Refinery, Milford Haven
The Esso Refinery at Milford Haven was an oil refinery situated on the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales. Construction started in 1957 and the refinery was opened in 1960 by Duke of Edinburgh. Construction cost £18million and the refinery had the capacity to process 4.5million tons of crude oil a...
Grangemouth Refinery
Grangemouth refinery is a mature complex oil refinery located on the Firth of Forth in Grangemouth, Scotland.Currently operated by Ineos, it is Scotland's only oil refinery , and is also the UK's second-oldest; it supplies refined products to customers in Scotland, northern England, Northern...
- Thaindian News - death toll ten
- Thaindian News - two more bodies
- Bloomberg.com - http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aXVaYLyg7cv4
- MSN INDIA NEWS - http://news.in.msn.com/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=3337000
- TIMES OF INDIA - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Inferno-rages-on-three-more-bodies-recovered/articleshow/5185017.cms
- HINDUSTAN TIMES - http://www.hindustantimes.com/Jaipur-blaze-No-FIR-against-IOC-yet/H1-Article1-471732.aspx
- THE ECONOMIC TIMES - http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/oil-gas/Indian-Oil-faces-claims-from-third-parties-as-fire-continues/articleshow/5191069.cms
- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA - http://www.ptinews.com/news/360319_Safety-audit-of-all-oil--gas-installations-ordered
- INDIAN EXPRESS - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/2-remaining-containers-still-ablaze/537541
- INDIA JOURNAL - http://www.indiajournal.com/pages/event.php?id=8917
- POLLUTION BOARD NOTICE - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Pollution-board-notice-to-IOC/articleshow/5205437.cms
- BIRDS MIGRATE TO UP - http://www.samaylive.com/news/jaipur-indian-oil-fire-pushes-migratory-birds-to-uttar-pradesh/666343.html
- SABOTAGE - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Police--IOC-fire-could-be-sabotage/538739
- MINISTER VISITS SITE - http://www.ptinews.com/news/366254_Minister-Prasada-visits-inferno-site-in-Jaipur
- INDIA TODAY - http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/69967/LATEST%20NEWS/New+sabotage+angle+to+Jaipur+IOC+oil+inferno.html
- FIRE OVER AFTER 11 DAYS - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/11-days-later--IOC-fire-over/539561
- IOC TOP BRASS IN DOCK FOR DEPOT FIRE - http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/73854/India/IOC+top+brass+in+dock+for+depot+fire.html
- COPS BEGIN PROBE INTO IOC BLAZE - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Cops-begin-probe-into-IOC-blaze/articleshow/5309258.cms
- DRAFT REPORT ON ENVIRONMENT IMPACT OF INDIAN OIL FIRE http://210.212.99.115/rpcb/Report_environ_impact.pdf
- FIR AGAINST CIVIL ADMINISTRATION - http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JSi8yMDA5LzEyLzExI0FyMDA0MDM=
- IOC FIRE SCORCHES JAIPUR'S TOP COPS - http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/75474/India/IOC+fire+scorches+Jaipur's+top+cops.html
- Oil cos misled govt on Euro-III fuels, secy wants heads to roll. Times of India, 16 January 2010.
- http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/two-more-bodies-spotted-at-ioc-site-fire-still-rages_100268564.html#ixzz0Vc4jbrPK
- http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/indian-oil-depot-fire-still-on-death-toll-10_100268514.html#ixzz0Vc4sFvPk
- Jaipur air poisoned by oil depot fire: Pollution board-http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/jaipur-air-poisoned-by-oil-depot-fire-pollution-board_100272132.html#ixzz0ghNiEuqc
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1224018/Five-killed-150-injured-massive-rages-Indian-oil-depot.html#ixzz0ghM8k3wl
- 9 IOC OFFICERS ARRESTED http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?686543