Casually settling the case : Water in diesel
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 22, 2012 -

Water drained from the diesel (Left Pix) :: Pix - TSE

Reducing the matter to a case of much ado without nothing is what it ultimately turned out to be. Water in diesel and being sold to the public and the authority concerned just about shrugs it off as a case of failing to check the storage tank when the fuel was offloaded from the oil tankers at the petroleum outlet.

Things like penalty for negligence apparently does not exist in the lexicon of the people who enjoy their pay and other Government perks to dispense with their duty.

On June 20, all hell, well nearly all hell, broke loose when it was found that the diesel being sold to the public at BB and Company fuel outlet at Sangaiprou was spiked with an unhealthy dose of water.

That one of the customers happened to be a cop could be the reason why the authority, read the police and the IOC and other departments concerned, responded so swiftly to the matter at hand and let the matter out for public consumption.

But the matter ended there. It was not a wilful act, so went the conclusion, but doesn't this warrant some sort of a penalty, even if only for negligence ?

There could be something more than a chalta hain attitude to the manner in which the matter was so lightly and casually settled.

Has the IOC and other departments concerned cared to investigate how such a huge volume of water managed to blend with diesel ?

Has any probe been ordered to study whether the water was wilfully added to the diesel to make up for loss of volume ?

How did water make its way inside the chambers of the storage tank ?

These are questions which would have struck the minds of anyone with a modicum of intellect and the manner in which the case was so brusquely settled by the authority concerned leaves a lot to be desired.

Fuel adulteration is a crime and it is thriving across the length and breadth of the country, but where would one place the very act of treating such cases with kid's glove, in the face of such a blatant case as this ?

There are reasons why fuel adulteration is not treated with the seriousness it deserves and one obvious factor is the huge amount of money involved. It was only some time back that a fuel outlet was closed for selling petrol which violated the density norms, but no one seems to know what has happened to the case.

The outlet was sealed but no samples were collected for further testing. Some years back another fuel outlet, Bakliwal Enterprises was closed down after the customers raised a hue and cry and ransacked its office after it came to light that the petrol that was being sold to the public did not conform to the minimum standard laid down.

No one knows what has happened to this case either. There have been other cases of customers going on the rampage when their vehicles were fed with highly adulterated fuel with nothing to show in the end, with the outlets back to business as usual after some time.

Perfect examples to underline the point that when it comes to cases involving the interest of the public, the Government and its agencies have mastered the art of skirting the issues and letting them die natural deaths.

Exploiting the adage ‘public memory is short’ to its own advantage. The stench of underhand dealing is overwhelming.

The manner in which these cases have been settled so casually reeks of some influential elements pulling the strings. Has any vehicle owner thought of suing these people for damaging their vehicles ?