Guwahati refinery fire may hit supply

Guwahati, Mar 6 (UNI) A fire that broke out in the Indian Oil Corporation's (IOC) Guwahati refinery last night, which forced it to shut down for the next 72 hours, may affect supplies to lower Asom temporarily.

According to official sources, the fire broke out at 2145 hrs and was brought under control in two hours. Ruling out any possibility of sabotage, they said efforts were on to find out the exact cause of fire. This was the first such incident, they added. The fire, caused due to a leakage in one of the units of the refinery, was spotted at around 2100 hrs but a major devastation was averted as fire tenders were pressed into service immediately.

The refinery officials were working round-the-clock to restore production in the refinery so that supplies should remain normal.

The capacity of the Guwahati refinery is 1.5 million tonne per annum and it is the smallest of the IOC's seven refineries in the country. There are a total of four refineries in Asom.

''There was a small fire last night. It looks like the fire was caused due to a pump seal leak. So we have shut down the CDU. The rest of the units are working,'' Director B N Bankapur said.

No one was injured in the fire and it has been extinguished completely, he added. All other units of the refinery were functioning normally, a company official said.

Guwahati is the smallest of IOC's seven refineries in the country.

UNI