MB Lal Committee
No Comments
Subject: Disaster management
Context:
The natural gas well at Baghjan in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district that had been leaking gas since May 27, caught fire on June 9.
Concept:
- According to the Oil Industry Safety Directorate, eight accidents in oil and gas installations took place between April and June 1, 2020.
- Such accidents are a grave reminder of the inadequate safety measures and the lackadaisical implementation of safety standards at oil and gas installations in the country
- The MB Lal committee was constituted following a fire incident in 2009 at the IOCL terminal at Jaipur. It had nearly 118 recommendations with regard to safety guidelines to be followed by oil companies at their installations.
- All recommendations of the committee approved by the petroleum ministry were supposed to be implemented immediately. But the recommendations are remaining idle.
- Emergency Response Centres (ERCs) to handle major oil fires in the fastest way possible are yet to be set up in India, more than a decade after they were recommended by the MB Lal Committee.