Night patrolling by line walkers to safeguard pipeline: BPCL

Mumbai: The Bharat Petroleum Ltd (BPCL) has clarified in a media statement that the Mumbai-Manmad pipeline follows all regulatory and precautionary measures at regular intervals, and ground surveillance of the pipeline is carried out by line walkers “We at BPCL have all systems in place for this Pipeline

Mumbai: The Bharat Petroleum Ltd (BPCL) has clarified in a media statement that the Mumbai-Manmad pipeline follows all regulatory and precautionary measures at regular intervals, and ground surveillance of the pipeline is carried out by line walkers

HT Image

“We at BPCL have all systems in place for this Pipeline. Ground Surveillance is carried as out by line walkers including night patrolling on a daily basis for the entire stretch. All drainages along this stretch of pipeline route are closely monitored by the line walkers. SCADA system is provided at all Control Rooms to monitor any possible leak. OFC based Pipeline Intrusion Detection System (PIDS) is also in place,” the statement said.

“We have placed the warning boards along the pipeline route at regular intervals of distances and other specifically required places like road crossing etc. providing contact numbers for any emergency,” the statement said.

Stating that the energy company has a wide network of 2,597 kms of pipelines, the company said its pipelines are laid in compliance with Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD), a technical directorate under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, to take care of high pressure or flow and design integrity. “Various safety features are also Inbuilt during the design stage in pipelines to take care of the health, safety, security and environment aspect. The health of the Pipeline is assessed periodically as specified by OISD guidelines,” the statement said.

In HT report Sunday that the Kalyan MLA Raju Patil of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had raised questions on BPCL’s monitoring mechanism since it passes a civilian population area like Shil and also called for a probe into the possibility of pilferage from the pipeline.

Meanhile, Avinash Sawant, Chief, Regional Disaster Management Cell, said “BPCL officials have repaired the leakage using two suction machines and fitted a safety cap at the leakage spot. At 5.50 am, the supply of petroleum products through the pipeline was resumed.”