Road turns parking lot for trucks laden with LPG cylinders

Heavy vehicles laden with empty LPG gas cylinders on Singayyanapalya 1st Main Road in Whitefield have become a cause for concern for residents.

The road, right opposite the Mahadevapura police station, on any day has 20 to 30 lorries waiting to be unloaded, so that the cylinders can be refilled. The heavy vehicles, belonging to Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), come all the way from Mangalore, so that the empty cylinders can be refilled.

Once the cylinders are refilled, they are distributed to households across the City. The  HPCL LPG Bottling Plant is located on the Whitefield Main Road and the cylinder-laden trucks are parked at the East Gate of HPCL on Singayyanapalya 1st Main Road.
Vijayalakshmi, a resident, said this had been going on for more than five years now, putting the lives of residents at risk.

More than 100 vehicles come here every day and the refilling activity, which begins at 5 am, lasts till 10 pm. “Sometimes, foul smell emerges during refilling and since the lane is completely occupied by vehicles loaded with gas cylinders, I never let my children out to play,” she said.

However, Mahadevapura police station sub-inspector denied residents faced any problem.“Not many people reside here. There are only small scale industries and a few houses. Hence, we have not taken any kind of action till date,” he said.

Advocate B M Halaswamy, who issued a notice to the plant a year ago, based on the complaint from one of his clients residing in the area, said: “The plant had obtained licence from the then Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) for storage and bottling of LPG in 1981. The licence was issued since the bottling unit was more than five km away from the City. But, now the place where the plant is located is included under BBMP limits and I doubt whether they have got the licence renewed. The area is teeming with commercial establishments and residential complexes. Considering that, the plant should be shifted to the outskirts immediately.” 
 
He said the plant has a storage capacity of 30,000 cylinders and heavy vehicles that arrive have a capacity of 18 metric tonnes. He said the HPCL has replied that it had sought permission from BBMP a few months ago.

HPCL authorities maintained there was a space constraint and hence, lorries are parked outside.

“We have not received any notice till date. We will be shifting our plant to Yediyur in Tumkur district by 2014. As far as our licence is concerned, we have already updated all documents and are maintaining safety in and around the premises effectively.

“We have put up a board mentioning the boundaries of the plant and are complying with the rules under Section 353 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act,” the authorities said. BBMP Joint Commissioner (Mahadevapura) B Heera Naik said they were busy with elections and were yet to check the status of the factory licence of HPCL.