A fire broke out at a refinery in Bathinda early on Friday but was soon brought under control by the refinery’s firefighting department, said Indianexpress.
No casualties or injuries were reported. Villagers in nearby areas saw thick smoke coming out of HPCL Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL) Guru Gobind Singh refinery in the early hours.
According to a press statement issued by the refinery, “Friday early morning a fire incident had been reported near the Quench Oil Pump of the cracker unit at Guru Gobind Singh Refinery, Bathinda due to an oil leak. The HMEL Emergency Team immediately reached the spot and started to control the fire. District Administration and other concerned statutory authorities were informed immediately about the incident. No casualties were reported."
“The fire is localised and has been brought under control after concerted efforts. The spilled oil generated thick smoke. The unit was shut down and the maintenance team is working on the restoration work. There is no impact to other units,” the release added.
Meanwhile, the area around the refinery has been cordoned off as a precautionary measure. Though firefighting teams at the refinery controlled the fire, a fire response team from the Bathinda Municipal Corporation reached the spot along with fire tenders. Police force was also deployed in the area.
Phulokhari and Kanakwal are the nearest villages, while a few villages are also there on the Haryana side of the refinery located on the border of Punjab’s Bathinda district and Haryana’s Dabwali district. Villagers said they heard the sound of siren triggered by the refinery and got on top of their roofs on seeing the plumes of smoke.
As MRC reported earlier, HMEL took off-stream its PP plant in Bathinda for an unscheduled 10-12 turnaround on 11 February, 2022.
HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL) is a joint venture between India's Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Singapore's Mittal Energy Investment Pte Ltd. Both partners each own 49% of the shares in the joint venture, the remaining 2% is held by financial institutions. HMEL operates a 9 mln tpa refinery at Guru Gobind Singh.
mrchub.com