Question : SAFETY MEASURES IN OIL DEPOTS

(a) the composition of the inquiry committee constituted to probe the incident of fire at the oil depot in Jaipur in early November, 2009 alongwith its terms of reference;

(b) whether the inquiry committee has been asked specifically to look at the sabotage angle allegedly by the Oil Company employees to cover up loss of petroleum products on account of alleged pilferage by the Oil Company employees;

(c) whether any independent agency of the Ministry monitors stock verification of different oil depots or it is left to the Oil Marketing Companies;

(d) whether there are any local level committees, or other structure to monitor the adherence of safety norms at oil Depots;

(e) whether petrol pumps in intensely populated areas are subjected to safety audits covering pilferage, leakage, electricity safety,etc; and

(f) if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI MURLI DEORA)

(a)to(f) A statement is laid on the table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 301 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.12.2009 REGARDING SAFETY MEASURES IN OIL DEPOTS.

(a) & (b): A seven member inquiry committee under the chairmanship of Shri M.B. Lal, Technical Member (PNG), Appellate Tribunal for Electricity and Ex-Chairman & Managing Director of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) was constituted by the Ministry on 30.10.2009 to probe the incident of fire at oil depot in Jaipur. The composition of the Committee is as follows:

1. Shri M.B. Lal, Technical Member (PNG), Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, Ex C&MD, HPCL-Chairman

2. Shri Govind Sharma, Pr. Secretary (Mines and Minerals), Govt. of Rajasthan-Member

3. Shri M.K. Joshi, Director (Technical) Engineers India Limited-Member.

4. Shri J.B. Verma, Executive Director- Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD)-Member.

5. Shri P.B. Yedla, Jt. Chief Controller of Explosives (Incharge-PESO)- Member

6. Shri S.K. Hazra, Ex-MD, Ageis Logistics-Member.

7. Shri B.K. Dutta, Executive Director (Supplies), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited-Member.

The committee will inquire into the causes of the incident and suggest remedial measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents. The Committee will submit its report within 60 days.

(c): Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) themselves monitor stock verification at their own POL depots.

(d): The Chief Inspector of Factories of the State Government and the local office of Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) are the statutory authorities to monitor the adherence of the safety norms at local level.

(e) & (f): Retail Outlets (ROs) are set up by OMCs after obtaining statutory approvals from various Government Authorities like Chief Controller of Explosives (CCOE), No Objection Certificate (NOC) from District Magistrate, etc. These agencies issue licenses after thorough scrutiny of documents, location of proposed ROs, facilities to be provided as against the prescribed norms/respective rules. NOC is issued by the District Magistrate after getting internal clearance of various departments like Public Works Department(PWD), Town Planning, Police, Fire Brigade, etc.

In addition, OISD has issued a standard on “Storage, Handling and Dispensing at Petroleum Retail Outlets”. These guidelines are being followed by Oil PSUs for their retail outlets on self regulatory basis. Safety audits are carried out for all RO from time to time, which covers safety aspects of pipeline leakages and electrical safety and various other safety aspects at ROs.

OMCs have also resorted to third party certification of all the ROs selling more than 100 Kilo Litre (KL) per month. During, the audits conducted by these agencies, the maintenance of equipments, upkeep of the RO & safety related issues are inspected, noted for compliance & subsequently addressed.The performance of the RO is evaluated on various parameters, which include safety,maintenance of equipments/ROs etc.