Why are we so concerned with adulteration of petrol? Imphal has quite a large population of two wheelers and four wheelers like the rest of South East Asian cities and most of these vehicles run on petrol. And adulterated petrol not only affects the vehicles but the environment also with high density carbon emission and associated health problems. Imagine the haze above the cities of South East Asia, and Imphal could one day become a haze city. In such a backdrop, the recent exposure of a mini ‘oil refinery’ of sorts indulging in mixing of kerosene and petrol at Khurkhul village is one of the most important issues confronting the state today. For a long time adulteration of petrol has been the talk of the town but for lack of specific evidence it could not be pinned down till lately. As the Home Minister said the Special Intelligence Unit (SIU) was instituted with the basic mission of fighting special crimes and it has done a tremendous job. In the first ever operation of the SIU a petrol adulteration racket was uncovered, while approximately 34,000 litres of Kerosene and petrol were seized from two separate locations at Khurkhul Makha Leikai under Sekmai police station, Imphal West district. Several iron tanks and plastic polymer tanks holding up to 2000 liters and more each of kerosene and ‘zero density petrol’ were found stored at the said twin locations. Two tankers unloading kerosene at the spot were also seized by the police sleuths. It could only be a follow-up of the closure of Krishna Premi Oil City at Moirangkhom by officials of the Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution (CAFPD) on Tuesday and the pump had been sealed for selling adulterated petrol. Many of the oil depots except for a few has been selling adulterated petrol for so many years but the adulteration racket could not be cracked either due to lack of evidence or the sheer power of the players involved in the racket. But now that the racket has been exposed, an investigation by an impartial agency had become necessary. One should keep in mind that the Khurkhul refinery is only a tip of the iceberg and there might be many more such mini refineries in the outskirts of Imphal who are indulging in such illegal activities. The modus operandi of the racketeers involves contracting kerosene tankers. The tankers which brings in the product from Tinsukia Oil Refinery, Assam arrive via NH 39 escorted by the CRPF, the tankers later arrive at Khuman Lampak as a transit point and ‘challans’( bills) prepared there are submitted to the IOC at Chingmeirong. Then the tankers unload the pilfered product at the said location at Khurkhul and kept stored inside the storage tanks. Chemical treatment including hydrochloric acid is put in a specific quantity to remove the blue tint of the K-oil. Afterwards, the zero density petrol brought from Myanmar is mixed with the color removed Kerosene, bringing up the specific density of the ‘mixture’ to that of petrol. Finally, a chemical coloring agent is added to dye the mixture to resemble actual petrol. The mixture is then reloaded to the petrol tankers for distribution to the oil pumps. The urban growth is associated with increasing number of automobiles to meet chiefly public conveyance and goods transport. The vehicle models on road range from old to the recent and their traffic is a source among others to urban air pollution. Automobile fuel adulteration is a clandestine and profit oriented operation. In a nationwide crackdown on the sale of adulterated petroleum products, the Central Bureau of Investigation had conducted 85 searches and registered 11 cases across the country. So it would be expedient to hand over the investigation of the Khurkhul petrol racket to the CBI, as the racket seemingly involves powerful people connected with the powers that be in Imphal. We are indeed assured by the words of the state Home Minister that no one would be spared. But, a smooth finish to the investigation could only come an agency which is outside the political influence of the state powers.
Home Editorial