HOLE DRILLED IN MATHURA REFINERY PIPELINE

Mathura November 29 (IANS)

 

A "specialists gang" operating with high precision tools managed to drill a hole and fix a valve in the oil pipeline coming from Gujarat to the Mathura Oil Refinery, to siphon off crude oil.

 

Mathura refinery CO Dr Ajay Pal Singh told media persons Friday evening that a case had been registered and investigations were on. The field owner where the theft was detected in village Shershah of Farah thana, is missing.

 

It took more than 30 hours for the refinery engineers to detect the hole after pressure in the pipeline was recorded low for past several days. On combing the entire 'low pressure area' the found the underground pipeline exposed and a valve fitted in the line. The punctured hole has now been fixed and covered.

 

IOC's Mathura oil refinery is the sixth largest in the country and caters to north and northwest India. The refinery has been in focus ever since its commissioning in  1982 due to pollution threat to the Taj Mahal, just 40 km away.

 

Refinery sources said for past few days the pipeline pressure was found to be low, which alerted the engineers who began a thorough checking exercise at multiple points. In village Shershah, in Farah thana,  the 15 member team found a valve fixed to the underground pipeline, obviously used to siphon off crude oil. "How long this 'khel' has been going on and the actual quantity of crude illegally pumped out for sale, no accurate estimates are available, but this is not the first time that such incident has been reported," a villager of Farah area Govind Prasad said.

 

On February 8, 2012, a valve in Kosi area suddenly burst open and villagers of the area collected processed petroleum for several hours. Similarly in April 2013, the pipeline was punctured and precious oil looted by the villagers. In September 2012, thieves drilled holes in the Jalandhur-Mathura oil pipeline to pilfer petroleum in Karnal district. Officials of the refinery found the pipeline exposed with holes and the tools used by the gang were found scattered around.

 

On October 8, 2009, a man called Bir Singh dug a tunnel to illegally draw 80,000 litres of petrol from an IOC pipeline in Mundka area of west Delhi. Police said Singh dug a kilometre-long tunnel (3 feet diameter), attached a valve and clamp to the pipeline and used a pipe to draw petrol.