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Maharashtra's trial by rain and fire

"The property of rain is to wet and fire is to burn," notes Corin, a minor character, in Shakespeare's As You Like It. Mumbai and some other parts of Maharashtra have been forced to confront this banal truth in the most horrifying manner during the last few days. In a tragic twist, the water was on land and the fire at sea. The enormity of the two events should not be underestimated. The accident that resulted in the gutting of an entire offshore oil platform on Bombay High, and the death of at least 12 people, must rank as one of the worst disasters in the history of the Indian petroleum industry. The deluge that paralysed Mumbai and left more than 500 people dead in the State was an outcome of some of the heaviest rainfall in the country's history. The record 94.4 cm Mumbai received on Tuesday easily surpassed the 83.8 cm Cherrapunjee received on an awful day in 1910. It is not clear whether the fire on the offshore rig, reportedly sparked by an explosion caused by the collision of a vessel with the platform because of tidal action, was related to the extreme climatic disturbances. It appears to have been a freak accident, the kind that bears no similarity to the blowout that occasionally occurs on platforms owing to excessive leakage of oil or gas during drilling. A mishap of that nature occurred in Bombay High when the drilling rig, Sagar Vikas, caught fire after a blowout in July 1982.

The country's largest oil basin, Bombay High, produces 33 million tonnes of crude, close to 40 per cent of the entire domestic output. The financial loss caused by the gutting of the MHN platform, which gathered oil from some 20 wells and produced 110,000 barrels of crude a day (almost half of Bombay High's total output), is difficult to estimate reliably. Plans are afoot to shift production lines to neighbouring platforms. However, it is likely, as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation officials have pointed out, that it will take many months before normal production is restored. While the gutted platform is insured for $195 million, the cost of acquiring a new one may set ONGC back by anything up to $100 million more than the insured price. The biggest tragedy, of course, is the human cost. It is a cost that is far higher than the economic losses caused by production setbacks, snapped telecommunication lines, closed airports, disrupted rail services, and water-logged roads. The real scale of destruction from the deluge, which has killed people by drowning, electrocution, landslide, and building collapse and has marooned thousands in the Konkan region, will become clear only when communication channels are restored and the flood waters recede. With more rain predicted and several areas inaccessible, it will take considerable time for Mumbai and the flood-ravaged parts of Maharashtra to limp back to normalcy. The Hindu expresses its solidarity with the people of the State during this time of troubles.

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