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Fire breaks out at oil plant in Gujarat's Banaskantha, property worth Rs 25 crore guttted

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Surabhi Pandey | Updated on: 10 Apr 2019, 10:27:29 AM
Fire breaks out at oil plant in Gujarat's Banaskantha, Rs 25 crore worth property gutted

New Delhi:

A massive fire broke out at an oil plant in Gujarat’s Banaskantha on Wednesday morning. News Nation has learnt that initial estimate suggests that property worth Rs 25 crore was gutted in the blaze. The Chandisar oil plant belongs the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation. Firefighters from neighbouring Disa and Palanpur have reached the spot and battling to douse the fire. Local administration has also reached the plant to oversee the situation. No casualties have been reported so far. 

An India.com report said that short-circuit is believed to be the reason behind the blaze. However, no official statement ahs been released so far. The blaze brings back the memories of the 2018 incident in Mumbai where over 40 people were injured at Bharat Petroleum’s refinery. The incident took place at the public sector oil firm's plant on the Mahul Road in Chembur area of East Mumbai around August 9 last year.

After preliminary treatment at the BPCL's first aid centre, 22 of them were allowed to go home, while others were shifted to a nearby hospital in Chembur. Nine fire tenders, two foam tenders and two jumbo tankers were pressed into service to douse the blaze. Along with the Fire Brigade, the refinery's own fire-fighting team, HPCL, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, RCF and Mazgaon Dock fire brigades were also engaged, an official of the Disaster Control Room of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.

The blaze also sparked protests by the locals living in the vicinity, shouting slogans and demanding that they be relocated from the area. Hundreds of families displaced for various government projects or due to slum demolitions have been resettled in Mahul village. "Had the boiler exploded near our building, we would have been reduced to ashes," Puja Waghmare, a local resident had said after the blaze. 

In April 2018, one person was killed after minor leakage in the motor spirit plant led to an explosion in the Numaligarh Refinery. In October last year, a lightning strike had caused a major fire in an oil storage tank on Butcher Island, off Mumbai shore. It took four days to extinguish the fire. The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has also witnessed a string of fire incidents in its refineries, especially those located in Odisha and Haryana, A Down To Earth report said.

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First Published : 10 Apr 2019, 09:57:22 AM

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