Poor safety norms caused fire in Jaipur IOC depot

An independent expert committee set up by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry in India blamed lack of safety procedures and human error for the devastating fire at the Indian Oil Corp.’s (IOC) fuel depot in Jaipur that killed 11 people and injured 45 in October 2009. The committee headed by former Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Chairman M.B. Lal, which also included seven other members, went into the causes of the October 29 fire. It was “gross negligence” that caused the leakage of petrol during transfer from a storage tank and the subsequent fire that engulfed the entire depot. Non-observance of normal safety procedures resulted in a 10-12 meter fountain of petrol spreading vapors over a 250-meter radius for 75 minutes, before a spark caused by starting a two-wheeler or from a kitchen within the radius, triggered the fire. The total losses suffered by IOC amounted to nearly Rs280 crore (US$). The total loss of petroleum products was about 60,000 kiloliters. (February 3, 2010)