The Hindu Business Line : Panel to unearth illegal fuel tanks

THE Ernakulam District Collector has informed the Kerala High Court that a regional sub-committee of the District Crisis Management Group was constituted to check unauthorised installation of storage tanks for inflammable chemicals and petroleum products.

In a counter affidavit filed before the Court, the Collector submitted that the sub-committee was constituted with the Additional District Magistrate as Chairman and the Inspector of Factories and Boilers as convenor. The 19-member sub-committee will take care of the port area.

There will be regular checks to ensure safety conditions for all storage tanks in the area, the Collector said in the counter affidavit.

A public interest litigation was earlier filed by the Willingdon Island Action Council against the installation of storage tanks for highly inflammable fuel and hazardous chemicals in the thickly populated Kochi city area.

The regional sub-committee, which held its first meeting, had observed that unauthorised tanks in the marshy lands posed a threat to the general public. It decided that mandatory provisions must be included in the lease agreement that Cochin Port Trust enters into with various companies.

The committee decided that the port should obtain sanction from the District Collector for leasing out land. The lessee should obtain clearance from the State Appraisal Committee, as specified in Section 41 A of the Kerala Factories Act, before undertaking construction in the leased land.

Clearance should also be obtained on completion of construction and before commissioning the project.

In addition, the lessee should obtain a `no objection' certificate from the District Collector, the Joint Director of Factories and Boilers, Ernakulam, the Chief Environmental Engineer and the Divisional Officer, Fire and Rescue Services for projects on the leased land.

The soil and backfill support capability should be evaluated in the tank farm areas to ensure reasonably uniform settlement under the loads imposed. Experts should undertake soil study, he said.

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