Pilferage: Drones to keep vigil on Mathura-jalandhar oil pipelines
INDIAN OIL CORPORATION HAD MOOTED THE PLAN OF AERIAL SURVEILLANCE IN AUGUST 2015, BUT IT WAS MARRED BY BUREAUCRATIC HURDLES
BATHINDA: ALARMED over activities of the organised gangs of oil thieves, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), nation’s largest public-sector oil corporation, is set for aerial surveillance of the underground pipelines in the strategically significant Mathura-jalandhar region.
Official familiar with the development say that the initiative would be the first of its kind in the country where drones would be used for monitoring the security of the underground network of petroleum pipes.
On July 6, the ministry of civil aviation authorised the IOC to use remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) for the pipelines.
Officials say the IOC had mooted the plan of aerial surveillance in August 2015, but the project was marred by the bureaucratic hurdles.
General manager, corporate communications of IOC (pipeline divisions), N Shiva Kumar said on Saturday that in the first stage unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS) will be used on Bijwasan (Delhi)–panipat corridor for four months. He said drones would be pressed into service within a fortnight.
Drones would help in giving real-time information in case of pilferage or any untoward situation in the pipeline network for prompt action. “Since the cases of oil thefts are more in the National Capital Region (NCR), it was decided to roll out the pilot project in Delhi-panipat to ascertain its efficiency. On the basis of the success of the project, aerial monitoring will be extended on the entire Mathura-jalandhar belt,” said Kumar.
The petroleum products to defence installations along the international border with Pakistan and China are met through the Mathura-jalandhar pipeline.
“Any interruption in the supply of petroleum products for civilian and defence requirements would be drastically hampered in case of any damage to the supply line,” said an official.
The IOC suffered huge losses due to incidents of pilferage. However, undermining the financial losses incurred in oil thefts, the public sector company said the safety of human lives and the environment was of much higher importance for them. “Plugging oil pilferage is certainly significant, but any incident of leakage and sabotage can lead to losses beyond imagination. There were instances in Haryana when gangs dug a tunnel and stole oil. The IOC wants to give a firm answer to such instances,” said Kumar.
Most of the pilferage sites in the NCR were located in agriculture fields, near abandoned water drains, panchayat grounds and forest lands. The IOC said that if pilferages go wrong, they could be a great safety and fire hazard and create environmental pollution, damage to water bodies, spoil natural drinking water facilities, soil and could be harmful to even public property and human life.