The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) will clean the water pipelines contaminated by oil that was suspected to have been leaked from the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) pipeline at Ponnurunni, Kochi. The supply of drinking water to Vyttila and nearby areas is expected to resume on Monday and will return to normalcy on Tuesday, according to the KWA.
Since Friday evening, residents in many parts of Vyttila and nearby areas have been complaining about their drinking water being contaminated since it smelled like diesel. Following that, on Friday, the KWA collected water and oil samples, and on Saturday, the BPCL collected samples to identify the contaminant.
On Saturday, BPCL and Kochi Corporation together joined all efforts to trace any leaks in their pipelines, from which crude oil or another contaminant could have managed to seep into nearby KWA pipelines . Personnel from the agencies dug the ground at Ponnurunni at regular intervals to trace underground pipelines and valves that could have developed leaks.
On Friday, excavators and firefighters were dispatched to the Vyttila-Ponnuruni area to investigate any leaks in the underground pipelines that carried hydrocarbon from the refinery to tanker berths at the jetty. As on Saturday evening, no leaks in the pipelines has been discovered. Along the pipeline corridor, more areas are being excavated. According to BPCL, oil traces found in many pits were vacuumed and cleaned.
Post Your Comments