VASCO
The Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) finally located the missing ammonia file late Tuesday afternoon and on Wednesday resolved to temporarily ban ammonia transportation within city limits, a day after the council meeting had abruptly ended over the missing file.
While 10 councillors including the vice chairperson had walked out of the meeting on Wednesday on account of issues over the Council budget, the remaining councillors unanimously passed a resolution to stop movement of ammonia tankers through the city and to ask the chief officer to conduct immediate probe into the recent ammonia leakage at Chicalim.
In its resolution, the MMC decided to press for the shifting of ammonia tanks from the port to a location outside city limits and a proposal has been forwarded to the legal team of the Council to explore the possibility of shifting the tanks.
The MMC has also resolved to immediately stop movement of ammonia tankers through the city and the chief officer has been assigned to conduct an enquiry into the leakage.
Accordingly, the chief officer is expected to summon Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd officials and find the cause of the ammonia tanker accident and check all road fitness of tankers transporting ammonia.
The MMC has resolved not to allow any ammonia transportation till the enquiry is completed and fitness of tankers is ascertained for safety of cargo movement. It may be recalled that pandemonium had prevailed at the MMC meeting on Tuesday morning, as the council could not locate the ammonia file.
Desperate to locate the file, the MMC staff checked in all four sections -- accounts, taxation, recovery and technical. When the file could not be located in these sections, the staff then turned to the storeroom and managed to locate the file.
MMC Chairman Deepak Naik immediately notified
all 25 councillors and a meeting was reconvened on Wednesday.
