Nashik oil pipeline leak floods farm with diesel

Thousands of litres of diesel gushed out from a leak in an oil pipeline, flooding several farms near Agarkhind village here on Friday afternoon, officials said.

The Mumbai-Manmad pipeline of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) supplies fuel stocks to the oil depots in the district.

Police officials said the pipeline leak developed when land was being levelled for the ensuing farming season in the field owned by local farmer Baburao Mojad.

"Around 12.30 p.m., the JCB suddenly struck into the oil pipeline passing through the fields and huge quantities of oil started gushing out of the hole," Senior Police Inspector Mukund Deshmukh of Sinnar told IANS.

The diesel started flowing for over half a kilometer, into several acres of prime farmlands even as a main valve -- 10 km away -- was shut down to prevent further leakage and the entire locality was cordoned off.

BPCL officials as well as disaster management authorities were immediately summoned to assess the situation and the damage caused, both to the company and the environment.

Though Deshmukh and others declined to peg the loss of oil due to the leak, reports claimed over 150,000 litres of diesel may have seeped into the fields.

Despite repeated attempts by IANS, BPCL officials were not available for their comments in the matter.

--IANS

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