District Collector Mohammed Y. Safirulla has directed the management of the BSES Kerala Power Ltd at Eloor to clear the 6,879 tonnes of naphtha by either generating electricity or by some other methods to avert any mishaps owing to the storage of the highly inflammable feedstock inside the company. The directive was issued based on the provisions of the Disaster Management Act.
The Collector gave the order after M.S. Sivasankaran, convener of the joint committee of trade unions, submitted a complaint that steps should be taken to clear the feedstock as the plant had been idling following the lockout. The company authorities said that naphtha was stocked when the agreement with the Kerala State Electricity Board for purchase of power was active.
The KSEB authorities informed the Collector that the board had not renewed the power purchase agreement with BSES Ltd as the cost of the power from the Pathalam plant was high.