FIR registered in Manipur power plant fuel leak incident, probe to begin soon

A day after heavy fuel leaked from a power station in Manipur's Imphal West district and spilled into streams flowing alongside it, a case has been registered by the state police in connection with the incident.

The N Biren Singh-led government has also sealed the Leimakhong area by deploying security forces personnel.

A three-member expert investigation team has also been constituted under the leadership of an ADG rank officer, Ashutosh Sinha, to probe the cause of the incident. The probe in the matter will begin soon.

The other members of the team include Shailesh Kumar Chourasia, a Commissioner rank officer in the power department of Manipur and M Pradip Singh, the Additional Secretary (Home) of the Manipur government.

Notably, the incident comes as Manipur continues to witness sporadic incidents of violence after ethnic clashes broke out between the Meitei and Kuki communities on May 3, 2023. More than 180 people have been killed in the violence so far.

• We'd like two minutes of your time in order to understand you better. Please take this reader survey.

LEIMAKHONG FUEL LEAK

On December 10, reports emerged about the leakage of heavy fuel from the Leimakhong Power Station which is located in the Imphal West district of Manipur.

Video footage of the incident also went viral on social media, causing panic among the locals and residents of other parts of Imphal.

Upon receiving the information about the fuel leak, several departments of the Manipur government along with the local administration were pressed into action to control the fuel leak.

As an immediate measure, the stream was diverted and the main course of the stream was blocked at Kantosabal to contain the spread of heavy fuel into the public water supply system and diverted to a nearby dugout field.

After the incident, the Manipur government deployed the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) of the state, which was to work in close coordination with the technical teams from IIT Guwahati, Manipur University and NIT Manipur, to assess any contamination of the water from the fuel leak.

As per the preliminary reports from the PHED, no damage to the local water supply system has been seen by the fuel leakage.

Technical teams from IIT Guwahati have also collected water samples for a detailed assembly. An expert team from the institute will also be visiting Imphal.

In the meantime, to ensure the supply of potable water to the residents of the Leimakhong area, the PHED has started providing potable water by diversifying its sources by boring tube wells and ensuring supply through tankers.

A committee has also been constituted by the PHED to monitor and ensure that potable water remains available for consumption as well as for domestic use of the public and all other important departments of the state.

Tune In