VASCO
Even as the fuel contamination in wells and water bodies at Matvem-Dabolim continues to be a challenge for authorities and the Zuari IAV Limited (ZIAVL), an official at the oil tanking company has voiced doubts that there is a major leakage in the pipeline.
A ZIAVL official has maintained that efforts are underway to locate any minor fuel leakage, if any, from the main pipeline between the Mormugao Port and its depot at Sancoale.
The official added that excavation of land around the pipeline is expected to be completed within the next few days and an international agency from Malaysia is being roped in to check for issues across the entire 14-km pipeline.
"After the issue of contamination of ground water was reported in Matvem, we were directed by the Mormugao Dy Collector to immediately stop the use of the pipeline and to rectify any possible leakage,” said an official at the ZIAVL.
“The South Goa collector later issued a stoppage report and we have been told to find any fault in the pipeline, repair it immediately and approach their office after testing the pipelines. Once this is done, we will get the permission from authorities and pumping from pipelines will resume.”
Asked if the ZIAVL has measures to detect any leakages in its pipeline, which is about two decades old, the official said: “The fuel got in parcels from the ships at MPA are directly pumped in our tanks and the quantity discharged and the quantity received has to be the same obviously.”
“However, we could have some variation which is permissible up to 0.03 percent of the entire quantity. The fuel is ordered by oil companies and the fuel discharged and the fuel received here is checked at both places.”
“We have never received any major variation as such, and if there was any major leakage in the pipeline, we would have regularly received short stocks every time a ship unloads its cargo and we would have definitely got a signal to investigate the reason for shortages and major variations.”
The official said the ZIAVL is doing its best to identify any possible spot where there could be a major leakage that may have led to the contamination.
“We have excavated the area around our pipelines and also deployed agencies from outside Goa to locate any leakage. We have even pressed a sniffer dog service as part of our effort to immediately rectify any fault and resolve the issue but we have not found any major fault as of now,” the official added.
"Our pumping has stopped since November 22 and we have already diverted one ship which came to Goa on November 27 and there have been no ships after that.”
