Panel probing GAIl pipeline fire incident to give report in 2 weeks
Acting swiftly in the aftermath of the GAIl pipeline fire incident in Andhra Pradesh which killed 15 persons, the Government has expedited the process of setting up the long pending safety regulator having legal powers for the oil and gas sector. Sources privy to the development confirmed that the proposal will be sent for Cabinet clearance soon.
At the same time the high-level enquiry committee set up by the Petroleum Ministry to probe the mishap, is to give its report within two weeks time.
Sources familiar with the developments, confirmed to The Pioneer that at present a proposal for setting up a safety regulator for the oil and gas sector having regulatory powers is under the consideration of the Committee of Secretaries (CoS). However owing to the urgency of the situation in the light of the fire incident, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) is keen to expedite the process of setting up the regulator and sources said that efforts are on to seek early Cabinet approval for it.
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had on Friday (the day of the incident), expressed shock at the fact that there was no statutory body for formulating safety measures for the oil and gas industry, and sources pointed out that his assurance regarding strengthening OISD, has pushed the MoPNG into fast tracking the process. There is a likelihood that the Government may try and push for Cabinet’s nod in the coming few days.
In 2012, the then Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy had suggested giving statutory powers to the Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD), a MoPNG body, which carries out safety audits of oil and gas installations, besides formulating and standardising procedures and guidelines for design, operation and maintenance.
As OISD does not have any regulatory powers, Reddy had suggested giving it statutory muscles, and during the tenure of the UPA Government itself, a proposal for setting up an oil and gas sector safety board - a stronger version of OISD having legal powers, was under the CoS’ consideration. The UPA Government though did not push it aggressively enough.
In such a scenario, the tragic GAIl pipeline fire incident has ironically made the newly formed NDA Government sit up and take notice of the safety aspects of the oil and gas industry and this may now push it towards expediting the process of establishing a safety regulator.
Meanwhile it has been learnt that the high-level inquiry committee formed by the MoPNG to probe the fire incident, has been asked to give its report within two weeks starting from June 27 (the date of the mishap).
Sources said that considering the fact the inquiry will involve various technical aspects like laboratory tests of evidence gathered from the sight, the Government has mandated two weeks for the probe panel to complete its investigations.
The inquiry committee is headed by a Joint Secretary in the MoPNG and consists of officials from the Oil Industry Safety Directorate, National Disaster Management Authority and Hindustan Petroleum Corp ltd (HPCl), as members.
GAIl and ONGC have been kept out of the inquiry committee. The incident occurred few hundred meters from ONGC’s Tatipaka Refinery at Nagaram village in Amalapuram Mandal of Andhra Pradesh.
The incident was reported in the wee hours of June 27, which occurred owing to an explosion in a pipeline owned by GAIl.