NATIONAL
Panel slams oil ministry for GAIL mishap that killed 22
PULLED UP Asks the ministry to apprise it of disciplinary proceedings after the inquiry
NEWDELHI:A parliamentary panel has admonished the oil ministry for risking human lives to maintain its “dominant role” in the safety of petroleum installations, and asked it to conclude disciplinary proceedings against executives of gas distributor GAIL India Limited responsible for a 2014 pipeline blast in Andhra Pradesh that killed 22 people.
The blast took place on June 27, 2014 at about 05:45am and a major fire broke out in GAIL’s Tatipaka to Lanco natural gas pipeline near Nagaram village in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. According to the downstream regulator, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), the explosion’s intensity was “very high” and the fire affected nearby dwelling units, tea stalls and coconut trees spread over a 50 m radius.
The cause of the accident was man-made; the Standing Committee on Petroleum & Natural Gas found violations of standard operating procedures. “The Committee are deeply anguished on this incident and feel that accident could have been prevented by following proper procedures in the first place,” the panel said in its latest report, tabled in the parliament earlier this month.
The committee said that wet gas was being carried in the pipeline meant for dry gas without adequate precautions. According to a PNGRB order dated July 15, 2015, “the transportation of wet gas has been the principal reason of failure of pipeline, moreover, as per M/s GAIL’s own admission, the pipeline was specifically designed for dry gas” .
The oil ministry told the panel that the company initiated disciplinary proceedings against five executives and immediately imposed penalties such as “nonconsideration for promotion and withholding performance related payments”. The PNGRB has, however, not concluded the inquiry, it told the panel.
The committee has directed the oil ministry and GAIL to speedily conclude the matter and apprise it of the outcome. It said the committee would like to “await the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings”.
Email queries sent to spokespersons for GAIL and the oil ministry did not elicit any response.
The report has proposed a single professional safety authority for the entire petroleum sector instead of three agencies the Petroleum & Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) and the Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD).
The report said OISD had no permanent staff of its own and most of its officers were on deputation from the oil companies. “Therefore, the concept of arm’s length in the safety aspect is certainly not fulfilled here. Due to conflict of interests, such officers cannot be expected to give adverse reports against their own employers,” it said.
According to the report, PESO, which is under the administrative control of the commerce and industry ministry, regulates safety of 97% of hazardous premises such as refineries, crosscountry pipelines, use of explosives in oil mines, auto LPG and CNG dispensing stations. DGMS, which reports to the labour ministry for administrative purposes, is responsible for 2% of installations; oil ministry’s safety arm is responsible for only 1% of such premises.
According to the committee, PESO is best suited to administer safety regulations in the entire oil and gas sector. “The Committee, therefore, strongly recommends that PESO may be empowered to work as a single framework for regulation of safety in entire hydrocarbon sector,” it said.
Former GAIL chairman and managing director, UD Choubey said, “Technically, the dry gas should have passed in the pipeline to avoid any mishap.” He, however, declined to comment on the report.
