GAIL mishap: Oil minister calls for high-level probe

Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan today ordered a high-level probe to ascertain the cause of the fire in gas utility GAIL India’s pipeline in East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. Over 14 people are believed to have died and 15 critically injured in the gas leak-cum-pipeline burst in the Nagaram Village in the early hours on Friday.

"The gas pipeline has been shut. Fire has been controlled. This is a very serious situation and I have ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident," Pradhan told reporters here.

The inquiry committee will be headed by a Joint Secretary in his Ministry and will have officials of Oil Industry Safety Directorate, NDMA and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) as members.

GAIL and ONGC have been kept out of the inquiry committee.

"I have briefed Prime Minister on the situation... Right now the focus is on relief, rehabilitation and rescue. I, along with Petroleum Secretary (Saurabh Chandra), GAIL Chairman (B C Tripathi) and ONGC Chairman (D K Sarraf) are leaving for the accident site," Pradhan said.

The inquiry committee has been asked to submit its report in a timebound manner, he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also called for immediate relief to be sent to the victims of the mishap. “My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives in the GAIL pipeline fire in Andhra Pradesh,” Modi said in a statement. “I have spoken to the Petroleum Minister, Cabinet Secretary  and GAIL Chairman and asked them to ensure immediate relief at the accident site,” he added.

Modi has also announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund to the next of kin of the people who died. Also, an ex-gratia relief of Rs 50,000 has also been announced for the people injured in the fire.

The local administration is understood to have recovered at least 13 bodies from the accident site, 500 kilometres from Hyderabad, even as more deaths were being reported from the hospital where the injured are being treated.

State Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is currently on a visit to Delhi, expressed grief at the loss of lives. "He reviewed the situation with district collector and senior officials from Delhi," an official statement read. Naidu has directed Deputy Chief Minister N Chinna Rajappa to rush to the blast site to monitor rescue and relief operations.