Leimakhong sabotage a crime against humanity : Biren
Two FIRs lodged, culprits still at large
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 05 2024: Leakage of heavy fuel from Leimakhong Heavy Fuel Power Station and discharging the oil into the canal of nearby Kanto Sabal on January 11 was deliberately done by some people and it was a crime against humanity, stated Chief Minister N Biren on the floor of the State Assembly today.

Replying to a call attention motion raised by Opposition MLAs K Ranjit and Th Lokeshwar on the leakage of oil from Leimakhong Heavy Fuel Power Station, N Biren who is also in charge of Home Department stated that the Government has been working to arrest all those people involved in the particular act of sabotage.

In connection with the incident, two FIRs were registered but police are still unable to nab the culprits as they cannot move to certain areas on account of the ongoing crisis.

The act of sabotage was a grave crime and the Government has been working to pull up the culprits for sure, Biren said.

Now, the heavy fuel power station of Leima-khong is being guarded by police lodged, and IRB, he informed the House.

"On seeing the video of a thick layer of oil flowing down the canal, I informed Minister Dingo and the local Pradhan and asked them to divert the canal's water to a nearby field.

I also sent Minister Susindro.

Additional police forces were also sent.

Before the canal's polluted/contaminated water reached rivers which could have devastating impacts, it was diverted and thus avoided a possible catastrophe", Biren said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also sent a number of experts from the Centre, and all efforts were made to minimise the impacts of the sabotage, he said.

Responding to the same call attention motion, Power Minister Th Biswajit said that the Leimakhong heavy fuel power station was established in 1998 after the Planning Commission sanctioned Rs 125 crore from NLCPR in order to reduce the burden borne by the State Government in purchasing power.

The heavy fuel power station was operated using three types of oil namely; high speed diesel, low speed diesel and furnace oil.

Earlier, these fuels were quite cheap.

Furnace oil was priced at Rs 7/8 per litre and high speed diesel was available at Rs 12 to 14 per litre.

But after the Government of India de-controlled the prices of petroleum products, the price of furnace oil jumped to Rs 40.25 per litre while the price of diesel rose to Rs 57.2, Biswajit said.

As the cost of purchasing fuels exceeded the cost of purchasing power, Leimakhong heavy fuel power station deactivated in 2012, he said.

Taking serious note of the leakage of heavy fuels from the power station into the nearby canal, the Govt made all efforts to stop the fuels from reaching rivers.

Even the DGP of the power station was suspended.

A team of Coast Guard and IIIT Guwahati made a spot assessment of the leakage on January 12.On the next day, a joint team of PHED, Water Resources, Environment & Climate Change and Power went to the spot and launched an investigation, Biswajit said.

IIIT Guwahati and other experts recommended the State Govt to take out the unused fuels stored in the power station.

The team of IIIT Guwahati visited the spot three times and furnished a report to the State Govt, he said.

After holding a Cabinet meeting, the State Govt consulted the Pune-based Oil Spill Combat Team (OSCT) .

After examining the oil leakage site and its effects, the OSCT has so far submitted six reports to the Govt, he informed the House.

A committee headed by an IG of Manipur Police also investigated the oil leakage.

On close examination, it was found that the pipe connected to the fuel tank was cut off.

As a result, the heavy fuel flowed down to the nearby stream.

The investigating teams would bring out all the details, he said.

Water contaminated by the oil spill have been tested periodically and there is nothing to be alarmed about.

A sample of the contaminated water was tested on February 27 and its oil/grease content was found to be 0.08 per cent.

As such, the water is no longer harmful, he said.

Raising the call attention motion, K Ranjit cited media reports on the findings of Manipur Human Rights Commission which said that the oil spill was caused by sabotage, not by accident.

He went on to question if the fuel pipeline of the power station was cut off deliberately to create widespread destruction in the valley areas.

He also asked if the high level committee formed by the Govt to probe the incident had submitted its report.

He said that the Leimakhong sabotage was a crime against humanity.

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