11 days later,IOC fire over

Jaipur District Collector Kuldeep Ranka on Monday stated that the fire had completely abated. “The fire was fully out on Monday evening after all the fuel in the containers had burned out. For now,only smoke from one container is still remaining,which might abate in a few hours,” Ranka said. He added that IOC officials had been asked to survey the depot and remove any remaining flammable materials from the site.

The fire has had no “significant” or “visible” environmental impact in the surrounding areas nor any adverse impact on the Taj Mahal which is only a couple of hundred kilometres away,an interim pollution report into the accident concluded. After a visit to the site and assessment of the ambient air quality and pollutant levels in the atmosphere,a team from the Central Pollution Control Board,in its interim report,ruled out any immediate health hazards to the local population. “On examination (of ambient air quality data),no changes were observed at Agra (Taj Mahal) even after four days of incessant fire at Jaipur,” said the report. “The observed data in Delhi does not indicate any impact of the fire on the air quality,” it further said.

Chief Fire Officer Ishwar Jat maintained that fire fighters were at the depot till late Monday evening as a precautionary measure. “After fire from the last container,which burned for three days after the other 10 were expended,a team of fire fighters surveyed the depot and found the situation safe,” Jat said. He added that a team of fire tenders would remain posted at the spot in the eventuality of a flare-up.

Several probe committees are well into their investigation into the incident and its cause,including a Union Petroleum Ministry committee,a team from the Jaipur chief inspector of factories and boilers,the district administration,the Rajasthan Pollution Control Board and the police. The police began investigations after residents and industrial unit owners registered complaints against IOC for death and damage due to negligence. The police are yet to rule out sabotage or arson as one of the reasons for the fire.