Kochi LPG terminal conforms to safety norms, has all approvals: IOC

As the protest by locals over Indian Oil Corporation’s upcoming LPG import terminal at Puthuvypeen near Kochi is at its peak, the company has said that it is incurring a loss of close to ₹1 crore per day due to the obstruction of work since February.

The National Green Tribunal had in August 2016 permitted Indian Oil to continue with the work. However, a small group of people have been obstructing the work since February 16 and the protests have led to a recent clash with the police.

IOC, in a statement issued here, clarified that the project not only has all the necessary approvals in place but is designed to conform to global standards of safety. The terminal will store LPG in mounded vessels, which are considered the safest in the industry worldwide. These vessels are made of 45-mm thick boiler quality steel plates and will be buried deep in the sand, surrounded by a 1.25-metre thick reinforced concrete wall.

The terminal is being equipped with automatic fire-protection systems as per the norms of the Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD).

It is being constructed in the Special Economic Zone notified by the Union Government in 2006 for the specific purpose of setting up industries. The coastal stretch of the project is only 690 metres and hence will not disturb any of the fishing activities.

The upcoming LPG import terminal will significantly help reduce the backlog for cylinder supply in Kerala, which is currently at about 15 days. It would also minimise the movement of bulk LPG tankers through the highways of the State.

Indian Oil is currently moving bulk LPG from Mangaluru to various LPG bottling plants in North Kerala through about 100 bullet trucks every day, which ply on narrow highways.

A pipeline connecting the proposed terminal to Kochi Refineries and the LPG bottling plants at Udayamperoor, Palakkad, Coimbatore, Erode and Salem would go a long way in reducing congestion on the State highways.

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