OIL RIGS SECURITY

Security lax at oil rigs

Security in the Kakinada coast in the Bay of Bengal where many installations of oil exploration companies are located is so lax that anyone can easily go near them.

Security in the Kakinada coast in the Bay of Bengal where many installations of oil exploration companies are located is so lax that anyone can easily go near them.

The recent incident in the sea near Bhairavapalem where hundreds of fishermen tried to storm the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) rig, brings to the fore many lapses in security.

The fishermen had announced earlier that they would storm the rig.

Two MLAs, Yanam MLA Malladi Krishna Rao and Mummidivaram MLA Ponnada Satish Kumar, led the agitation. More than 500 boats were mobilised for the agitation, yet no preventive arrests were made and no action taken against the two responsible public representatives.

The fishermen almost reached the rig when they were intercepted by the Indian Coast Guard and Marine Police.

Many experts feel that preventive action should have been taken even though the grievances of the fishermen were genuine; they should have been allowed to carry on their agitation only on the shore and not at sea.

“Governments, particularly the Union government is paying more attention to the security of coasts. But local police do not care about the importance of ports and the coast and their security,” said an official of an oil exploration company.

“It will set a bad precedent. There is very little security at the Kakinada port. Pilferage of oil is widespread in the port and the amount runs into crores. The culprits have the blessings of local politicians. No attempt is made to prevent pilferage of cargo. The trade suffers in silence or moves away to other ports,” said another official of an oil company. “If a fisherman goes to sea without a licence or in the ban period, officials book cases against him. But when hundreds of fishermen went into the sea to storm an oil rig, why did the police not arrest them

” said a leader of the fishermen community in U.Kothapalli.

Police said that preventive arrests could not be made, and companies should be more considerate to fishermen whose livelihood is threatened.