Ahmedabad sitting on a pipe bomb

AHMEDABAD: It's a veritable tinderbox. Over 40 buildings in Ahmedabad have been built over potentially dangerous oil pipelines, making them extremely vulnerable.
With oil corporations having no authority to remove these constructions, the number of structures resting on these danger zones continues to rise with civic authorities turning a blind eye to the problem.
Information obtained under the Right to Information Act revealed that Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) had repeatedly sent notices to certain buildings that had pipelines running underneath.
According to The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines Act, 1962, once a pipeline is laid, construction of any building or planting a tree on the ground above it, 25 mt on either side of the pipeline, is prohibited. This can prove to be dangerous, because the construction restricts access to the pipeline for doing repair work in case of leakages, scores of which have been reported in the past, say ONGC sources. ONGC pipelines carry crude oil from Ahmedabad to Koyali, while parallel pipelines of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) carry refined oil back to Ahmedabad.
ONGC has issued notices to Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Mardia Chemicals and Nirma industries, for building farmhouses over their pipelines. The startling list throws up more names: Satyagraha Chhavni, Samarpan Bungalows, Western India Automobile Association-Castrol, Goyal Intercity, Surdhara Bungalows, Sun 'n' Step Club, Anand Niketan School and others.
Sources in ONGC say that civic authorities like Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (Auda), in whose jurisdiction the pipeline network passes, do not bother to contact them when approving plans or permitting Building Use (BU) for these buildings.
The 1962 Act does not give ONGC or IOC the right of ownership of property. They only acquire Right of User (RoU) for the land to lay pipelines in, upon providing compensation to owner. After notices are issued by the oil company, the property owners may approach the district judge who has the authority to decide whether the structure is an encroachment and action can be taken only after this.
Executive director of ONGC, B M Singh said a meeting with Auda officials is slated for August 9. "We are tired of giving notices to the owners of these buildings. They all go to court and cases go on for years," he said.
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