IOC´s Jaipur depot was gutted by fire on Thursday and it is still ablaze. “In the wake of the accident, IOC has tightened its safety policy and has restricted entry of tankers queuing for fresh supplies,” said NOC Spokesperson Mukunda Dhungel.
The IOC depot located adjacent to main road has always been facing traffic jam. To manage jam and queue, the depot was allowing the tankers to park inside the depot area in the past. That used to save time for tankers as well as depot and enabled NOC get as much as 2,400 KL fuel a day -- a volume which is necessary to keep the supplies going in the country.
But under the new safety measures, IOC is presently allowing just about 24 tankers to enter into the depot at a time, and rests are forced to queue on the main road. This has not only worsened the traffic congestion, but also slowed the loading procedures.
Because of the new provision, NOC has been receiving only some 100 tankers (of 16 KL capacity) load of fuel from Friday. The NOC needs to import as much as 200 tankers load of fuel from Raxaul to maintain its stock and supplies.
The statistics of NOC shows that it received just about 1,100 KL of petroleum products on Friday and 1,300 KL of oil on Saturday. No fuel was received on Sunday, it being a public holiday in India, while the receipt of Monday also remained far lower than regular imports.
The short supply, meanwhile, has caused a sharp depletion of diesel´s stock at Amlekhgunj depot -- the largest distribution outlet of the corporation. “The stocks position in Kathmandu is sound,” said Dhungel.
Nonetheless, to maintain inventory and supplies, the corporation has started distributing 60 KL of petrol and about 84 KL of diesel to Kathmandu from Bhairahawa.
Dhungel stated that the stocks and supplies position so far remains well in control of NOC management. However, sources informed myrepublica.com that the situation might worsen after load shedding hour increases, which is likely to happen next month.
“During such situation, NOC will have no option but to secure the supply from Barauni, even though it will raise the cost of import due to rise in transportation cost,” said the source.
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