Fire breaks out in HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL) located at Pachpadra in Balotra district of Rajasthan a day before inauguration
SNPNEWS.IN News (Rajasthan): On April 20, a massive fire broke out in HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL) located at Pachpadra in Balotra district of Rajasthan at around 2 pm. This incident took place exactly a day before the inauguration of this refinery. The inauguration was to be done on April 21 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which has been postponed after this incident.
The fire that broke out near/inside the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) of the refinery, built at a cost of Rs 79450 crore, spread very quickly. After the fire, heavy black smoke was seen rising from the unit, which was visible for several kilometers. According to some reports, the unit has suffered extensive damage due to the fire and the repairs may take about 4 months. Officially, the full extent of the damage is still under assessment. Emergency protocols were immediately implemented to prevent the spread of the fire.
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30-35 fire brigade vehicles and emergency teams immediately reached the spot and brought the fire under control after a struggle of about 2 hours. Local police and industrial safety teams were also active. This is India’s first greenfield integrated refinery-cum-petrochemical complex, which is a joint venture of HPCL (74% share) and the Rajasthan government (26% share).
Regarding the incident that took place a day before the inauguration, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas issued a statement saying, “The fire broke out near the CDU, the fire has been brought under control, there was no loss of life during the incident. An investigation into the incident has been initiated.
“Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma also expressed concern over the incident and ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. After the incident, there are discussions to further strengthen security measures in the refinery and reschedule the inauguration only after a thorough investigation. This is a big challenge for this big project, but officials have said that the situation is under control and a major threat has been averted.