KARWAR: Following a complaint that petroleum products are stored without complying with safety measures, a team of officials, which included the chief controller of explosives (CCE), inspected Karwar port on Tuesday. The team reached the port and left for the office of the director of ports (DoP) where they held a meeting with officials. They again inspected the port in the presence of port department officials. The team members refused to provide information to the media and said that they would submit a report to the government.
The inspection took place after Preetam Masurkar, a resident of Baithkol which is near the port, had written to the CCE, alleging lack of safety measures. Masurkar had complained that the port department does not have a fire vehicle of its own. He had said that in case of a disaster, the entire port area would be destroyed, causing unforeseen human and collateral loss. After the letter, the CCE had directed the port authorities to stop the import of petroleum products at the port till further instruction.
On Tuesday, Masurkar went to the DoP’s office, but was not allowed to talk to the CCE team. Masurkar said that he and other residents had a brief interaction with the head of the team at the port. Masurkar alleged that to officials temporarily kept some fire extinguisher at the port to mislead the team. “The CCE team members were not ready to hear my contention and left Karwar without providing any chance to explain my point of view,” he alleged.
