Why the mafia loves kerosene,with a lot of help from the Govt

Not without reason. With petrol at Rs 58.37 per litre and kerosene remaining near about the June 2010 price of Rs 12.32 a litre,it yields a staggering profit to steal the highly subsidised product and use it to spike petrol and or diesel.

Add to that the fact that the “kerosene marker system,” started after IOC official S Manjunath’s murder in Lakhimpur Kheri — there,too,the “oil mafia” was responsible — has been discontinued after The Indian Express reported that the adulteration check was ineffective.

The doping in kerosene was stopped from December 2008 “owing to deterioration in efficacy of this marker system due to it being found launderable” and the Petroleum Ministry decided to find “a new efficient marker system”.

Two years on,the ministry’s oil marketing companies (OMCs) are still finding out whether the indigenous marker they have developed is “occupationally and toxicologically” safe.

“Until the report comes,the pilot projects cannot be started,” said an official.

That’s not all. While movement of other petroleum products is monitored by OMCs because they are under the control of the Centre,kerosene tankers do not have a GPS (global positioning system) as they fall in the ambit of the states.

“Kerosene is handed to the state government’s custody from the depot and it is their job to ensure the safety in supply movement,” said an OMC official.

The tankers are also not guarded by Abloy locks — used to lock sensitive equipment — with the keys kept at the OMC depot and with the pump-owner to ensure that no theft is attempted en route.