Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL)'s Salaya-Mathura Pipeline developed a leak on Saturday morning reportedly causing crude spill over to about 7-8 bigha (approx 2 acres) of agriculture land at Mota Thavariya village in Jamnagar Taluka in Gujarat. The emergency services were pressed into action including IOC staff, district fire authorities and disaster response team were rushed to the spot to plug and assess the damage.

The 1870-kilometres long pipeline, which supplies crude oil from Salaya (near Vadinar) to IOC's refineries at Koyali, Mathura in Uttar Pradesh & Panipat in Haryana developed a leak at Village Thavariya in Jamnagar.

In a statement, the IOCL spokesperson said, "Five kilometres downstream Jamnagar pump station having two parallel pipelines feeding crude to refineries at Koyli, Mathura & Panipat. One of the two pipelines encountered a leak at an uninhabited agricultural area (having no standing crop). Some crude oil came out (due to leak) and the pipeline was shut down. The leakage has been stopped and restoration work is in progress.... After checking and testing (of the any other leaks) crude pumping is being resumed. The restoration of second line is in process."

According to officials at the spot, suction process to clear the fields was initiated.

"From the initial inspection it appears that the leak was caused due to technical fault in the IOC's Salaya-Mathura pipeline. The leak was reported at about 9.30-10 in the morning in the fields of Mota Thavariya village. The leak has been plugged and a report has been sought from the company about it," said an official at the spot from the district authorities.

"The district agriculture officials will assess the fields for the possible damage to the land fertility due to the spill," the official added.

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