A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the explosions and subsequent massive fire at the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL)’s Gujarat Refinery in Koyali, which claimed the lives of two workers on November 11.
Vadodara district collector Bijal Shah directed Rajesh Chauhan, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Vadodara Rural, to conduct the investigation.
The SDM’s office subsequently issued a public notice, stating that the inquiry will be conducted under Section 28 of the Petroleum Act, 1934 and Section 196 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. The inquiry has been scheduled for November 26 at the SDM’s office, with all concerned persons required to remain present.
On November 11, two explosions near the refinery’s benzene storage tanks triggered a fire. The first blast occurred in tank 68 at 3:30 pm, followed by another in tank 69 at approximately 8:30 pm. The fire, which raged for over 10 hours, necessitated a large-scale firefighting effort involving 49 foam tenders brought in from across Gujarat.
The two victims of the disaster were identified as Dhimant Makwana, a contract worker from Tarapur taluka in Anand district and Shailesh Makwana, a resident of Koyali village who worked in the refinery’s canteen.
Following the tragedy, the Vadodara district collector urged IOCL’s management to conduct a comprehensive internal investigation and form a committee to ascertain the cause of the incident. In a statement issued on November 12, IOCL confirmed the formation of a high-level committee to thoroughly examine the events leading up to the disaster.
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