Fire in Jaipur

Today I saw a power point presentation on fire in Jaipur. It was a terrible tragedy. 12 lives were lost. Colossal loss of propeerty and petroleum products was reported. The impact on environment was huge.

Could it have been avoided? In India, HSE is still not an obsession. In fact the attitudes are quite casual about HSE matters. Moreover many of the operators do not comprehend the consequences of mis handling or mal operation.

How could the Petrol from the tanks leak for such a long time while loading to pipelines? On the positive side, the actions after the mishap were quite positive. So many people were moved out of harm's way. Area was cordoned off.

But focus must move on preventive measures rather than post facto disaster mangement.