Cracking down on fuel adulteration : A sense of deja vu'
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 24, 2012 -

A rehashed script it was. Rewind nearly a decade back when customers went on the rampage at Bakliwal Enterprises on being served highly muddied liquid as fuel forcing the Government to seal the outlet with the assurance that the samples collected from the pump would be tested at a laboratory outside the State and ending with a whimper with no one exactly knowing what happened to the test and the sense of deja vu' is overwhelming.

Breathing fire and brimstone with no substance and playing to the gallery is the signature style of politicians and the political class, but when the bureaucracy starts to trudge down the same path, then a line has to be drawn.

At its best, the drive launched by an official team from the Indian Oil Corporation and the Consumers Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to check fuel adulteration at some retail outlets in Imphal on May 22 with one pump being sealed indefinitely definitely had a candy gloss effect.

At its worst, it may be interpreted as nothing more than an exercise in trying to score some brownie points by creating a smoke screen.

Density petroleum kit was the device used by the official team while launching the crackdown and the question that naturally follows is how strict is the standard of this test ?

Were samples collected to be sent to the laboratory for further testing and if not why ? Other than closing down the pump indefinitely what are the other penalties that can and should be imposed for not only cheating the customers but also for polluting the environment ?

The other outlets which were checked managed to pass muster, but it should not be lost on anyone that fuel can be adulterated so intelligently without violating the minimum standards laid down and this inevitably points to the existence of a cartel spawning across the fuel supply chain.

While different solvents such as propane, benzene, xylene etc are known to be widely used to adulterate fuel, in the case of Manipur kerosene is believed to be the primary adulterant used.

This not only impacts on the environment and the vehicles of the customers but also on the supply chain of a PDS item to the intended population. This then could be the primary causative factor why the PDS has miserably failed in delivering kerosene to the people while the same is available at exorbitant rate in the black market.

The co-relation between fuel adulte- ration and its negative impact on the PDS is stark. The drive may have been launched to ring out the message to all retail outlets that the Government agencies will not remain mute spectators, but the yawning gap between the stated intention and the follow up action is too significant to miss.

The stake holders here are the people and the environment of the place. This is not only a question of some people beating the system with their ingenuity but also exposing everyone to poison in the air.

The worrying part is the seeming absence of any seriousness to take the matter to its logical conclusion and set an example to the others as well. A beginning can be made now and the detection of the non-conformity to the standard laid down by the Government should be taken as the first step towards stemming the rot.

The question is whether the Government is ready to take the step or not.