new delhi: pure for unsure. in a city that has about 700 petrol pumps, just 24 outlets of an oil company have put up a hoarding ensuring people that the fuel they sell is "pure for sure". what about the rest? due to the price difference in prices of fuel and adulterants, the problem of fuel adulteration in the capital has acquired such dimensions that last month the supreme court had to intervene.
it asked the environment pollution (prevention and control) authority to appoint an independent agency to conduct surprise checks at oil depots and tankers to curb adulteration. but who is responsible for the problem in the first place? according to s a dutta, scientist at the central pollution control board: ''the fuel supplied by refineries is okay. the problem starts with the distribution chain once the fuel leaves the storage tanks.'' from there begins the process of 'multiple' adulteration. drivers of tankers carrying fuel to pumps break the seal and sell the fuel. then to replenish the stock, they fill it with adulterants. petrol is mixed with naphtha, natural gas liquids or waste solvents. diesel gets adulterated with kerosene or waste products of the petroleum stream. an unknown chemical is also added to the fuel to ensure that the density of the liquid remains unchanged. while oil companies claim they have been trying to improve their sealing methods, observers say the seals are available for about rs 300. once the fuel reaches the pumps, it is further adulterated there. defending themselves, the delhi petrol dealers' association recently filed a petition in the apex court, alleging that the diesel supplied to pumps was adulterated. then come the vehicle owners. ''while autorickshaw drivers are known to prepare their own concoctions by mixing used engine oil with diesel and petrol, even some private vehicle owners are adulterating fuel to save money,'' r k malhotra, deputy general manager of indian oil corporation's vehicle-testing and fuel-emission department, said. apart from checking tankers and pumps, he added, ''the fuel tanks of private vehicles should also be checked.'' while the unscrupulous tanker-drivers and pump-owners have made a 'killing,' now it's the turn of the adulterated fuel to take its toll. it increases the emission levels of automobiles. moreover, the unleaded fuel being sold in metros has a high content of benzene, which if not fully burnt releases compounds that are highly carcinogenic. ''to ensure that the engine gives the desired performance, including low emissions, the fuel quality at the consumer end must be pure,'' a cpcb official said. since that is not happening, like the environment, the engine also is left choking. ''adulterated fuel is definitely bad for the engine. parts like the fuel pump, that cost about rs 3,000, can get spoilt. the overall engine and components' life also gets adversely affected,'' krishan kumar, maruti udyog limited's advisor, engineering, said. h b mathur, a former head of iit delhi's mechanical engineering department, agreed. ''while most other specifications are the same, kerosene's volatility is less than that of petrol. as a result, adulteration leads to overheating of engine and in extreme cases can lead to piston seizure.'' he said engines experience a loss in power by 15 to 20 per cent. ''even the mileage is adversely affected,'' mathur said. to curb this menace, the supreme court had in 1998 ruled that two fuel-testing labs be set up. following this order, the national fuel testing lab was set up in noida for testing samples drawn from retail outlets in the both the ncr and nct of delhi. last year, the ministry of petroleum and natural gas passed the naphtha (acquisition, sale, storage and prevention of use in automobiles) order and the solvent, raffinate and slop order. earlier in 1998 it had passed the motor spirit and high speed diesel (regulation of supply and distribution and prevention of malpractice) order. the orders issued in 2000 put restrictions on the sale and use of solvents and banned adulteration. they also gave senior officers the power to search and seize samples. but it seems these orders have remained mainly on paper. ''even now, several fuels like kerosene do not reach a large number of people. instead, they land up in petrol pumps for adulteration,'' s p goyal, petroleum conservation research association's general manager, said. ''there is no proper enforcement. we have been asking that results of surprise tests be made public. and that oil companies be ranked accordingly. otherwise, the oil companies will continue to remain unaccountable for the petrol pumps that sell adulterated fuel,'' anoumita roy choudhury of the centre for science and environment said. cpcb's dutta said even the testing lab is not much use in detecting a small percentage of adulteration. ''fuel that has 10 to 15 per cent adulterants will show the same bureau of indian standards specification as pure fuel. there is no foolproof method to detect adulteration,'' he said, adding that unscrupulous ''people are doing as much research and development as the testing labs''. recently, the bis set up a technical panel to examine other reliable methods to detect adulteration. among them are some chemical and bio-markers. if they are put in, they would appear diluted if the fuel is adulterated. ''but that is still in the pilot stage,'' dutta said. official speak p m singh, commissioner, food supplies and consumer affairs department singh said her department conducts periodic checking. ''we lift about 100 samples per month and send them to the national fuel testing lab in noida. once we get the results and if they do not conform to the standards, we report the matter to the oil company,'' she said. she said the problem of fuel adulteration in delhi was ''very minor''. ''only a few pumps which get few customers and are located in obscure parts of the city might be doing this,'' she said. when asked about picking just 100 samples a month in a city that has over 700 petrol pumps, she said: ''ours is one of the three agencies that checks fuel adulteration. the centre, through the ministry of petroleum, and the transport department are also working in this direction.'' moreover, she said the process of collecting samples was very tedious. ''the samples have to be lifted in special containers,'' she said. despite the fact that adulterated fuel adds to the vehicle's emission levels, the delhi pollution control committee has no role in curbing this menace. ''this is the responsibility of the transport department as they have to do the actual checking,'' dpcc member secretary devashri mukherjee said. however, transport department's special commissioner rajiv talwar said his department ''did not have the power to lift samples or conduct raids.'' ''we check the emission levels of vehicles and are going to launch a new system of checking pollution where a picture of the vehicle getting tested will be affixed on the puc certificate,'' he said. till now people could just pay an extra amount to get the certificate without any actual tests. but it seems the buck does not stop anywhere given the way the different departments are passing the same. what remains to be seen is whether the supreme court order can make them join in concerted effort and help clean a very dirty city and fuel.
