Unscrupulous elements scavenging fuel from pipeline between Mangalore and Bangalore are posing a threat to life and property.
Scavenging could spark an inferno which could turn tragic.
Unscrupulous elements scavenging fuel from pipeline between Mangalore and Bangalore are posing a threat to life and property.
Scavenging could spark an inferno which could turn tragic. Such tragedies have occurred earlier. In June 2003, as many as 105 villagers were roasted alive at Onicha Amiyi-Uhu, a village in Nigeria.
The Western Range police said several people were arrested for pilferage, or scavenging, in Dakshina Kannada and Chikmagalur districts.
“I am sure there will be many cases in the Eastern Range also. Two cases have been filed in the last fortnight by the Goribeedu police in Chikmagalur and Punjalkatta police station in Belthangady,” said IGP (Western Range) Alok Mohan.
The 335km Mangalore-Bangalore petroleum pipeline, starting from Thokur in Mangalore to the outskirts of Bangalore Rural district (near Nelamangala) was built in 2000 and incorporated with the Southern Petroleum pipeline grid in 2002.
It was breached more than thrice in the first year itself. One of the biggest breaches was found at Neralike in Neriya village panchayat limits in Belthangady taluk, where vandals breached a pipeline carrying high-speed diesel.
They had used a concealed 1.5km-long hose to siphon off the fuel, which was supplied to trucks and buses at lower rates.
The buried hose pipe passed through a local water tank, and the locals who saw oil slick investigated further and unearthed the illegal pipeline.
Two other incidents were also reported earlier: one at Dondole in Dharmasthala police limits in 2007 and another in Mudigere police station in 2008.
Meanwhile, petroleum companies, too, have taken serious note of scavenging.
“Pipeline scavenging has become a headache to Petronet and other petroleum companies. Our security personnel are working closely with the police for ending this menace. These elements do not know how dangerous scavenging could be. It can ignite a major fire and many people could be killed,” a senior official of Petronet said.
An official of the HPCL pipelines division said scooping was a dangerous process. “It needs a special device called the scoop, which cuts the pipeline and attaches itself to it like a parasite, and provides a vent — actually a tap with an extension to attach a hose. In Belthangady, we found that vandals had used this method in a professional manner,” he stated.
Incidentally, what has been baffling the officials was that the scoop was available only to licenced pipeline maintenance contractors. “We do not know from where the vandals had procured it. It could be an insider’s job” the officials said.
Meanwhile, authorities have been considering deploying CISF personnel to guard the pipeline.
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