Another IOC depot catches fire. This time at Surat. Last time it was Jaipur in October 2009. At Surat sources claim that 90-100 lakh liters of diesel and petrol are burnt away. At Jaipur 80 lakh liters of diesel and petrol (worth INR 300 crores) was put to flames.
The main reason for such fires is mismanagement and corruption. The depot is callously managed and many people sell that fuel to black marketers. To compensate for the same, they report that the fuel was vaporized. But when the quantity sold is high, it is preferred to burn away everything - the fuel and the associated records.
Surviving and (ir)responsible employees are arrested and jailed. But that does not serve the purpose. One set of people are arrested and another set of people are appointed. The vicious cycle continues.
Ultimately we are at loss - the taxpayers. We pay through our noses for the fuel we buy and for some people it is so easy to burn 80-100 liters of precious fuel. Later on the Government and the fuel companies would hike the prices to compensate for the loss in business and rising fuel costs.
Why should the common man be made to pay for such losses. The company, its management and the (ir)responsible employees should pay for the losses arising out of such incidents. It would help to reduce the cost of fuel and also the no. of such incidents.
It is saddening to know that huge amount of useful resource was put to waste, caused pollution and havoc and we got nothing in return.
A stitch in time, saves nine.
- Vivek
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