ALAPPUZHA: The tanker lorry mishap at Tanur, Malappuram district, on Thursday has again exposed the authorities' unpreparedness in meeting such situations although at least 27 people have lost their lives and many have been injured in the state in a decade in tanker accidents. The Alappuzha district administration had called for an alerting system to monitor the tankers in January last, but nothing has been done.
The then district collector Mr N. Padma Kumar had convened a meeting of experts following the oil tanker mishap at Punnapra on January 21. The meeting called for a system to be installed in association with National Informatics Centre (NIC) to alert the district headquarters when the loaded tankers start from the refinery.
The system could help the authorities monitor the oil and LPG tankers when they enter the respective districts and the officials could act in time if an emergency arises. However, many oil tankers are operating even now flouting norms. SP Premji, official-in-charge, District Disaster Management Authority, says though the district administration had taken some initial steps in this regard, there was no follow-up. "A state-level alerting system is needed as such incidents have become common," he says.
The tankers must have a helper. But many of them are being operated with only the driver, the official says. The fire and rescue forces are ill-equipped in handling such situations. "Many of the rescue operations get delayed due to the failure to put precautionary measures in place during the accident," says M. Shaji, a fire and rescue official.
There is need for more emergency rescue vehicles. Currently, it's impossible to reach the accident sites in central Kerala in time. The emergency rescue vehicle took hours to reach Alappuzha from Eranakulam after the accident on January 21. The tanker accidents have become routine. On January 29, 2014, an LPG bullet tanker overturned on the national highway at Haripad.
On January 7, an LPG tanker leaked on the National Highway near Angamaly. In the worst incident of its kind at Chala in Kannur district on August 27, 2012, 20 people were killed and many were injured. On December 31, 2009, seven people lost their lives when a gas tanker exploded at Karunagapally, Kollam district.
