Quarry stir hits refinery work

The ongoing strike by granite quarry owners has brought the integrated refinery expansion works by Bharat Petroleum Corporation to a halt.

The non-availability of building materials such as M-sand, rubble and coarse aggregates had brought the project sites to a standstill, said an official statement from the oil refining company, which expressed apprehensions about meeting the target.

The stoppage of work has unsettled plans to finish most of the civil works by early March so as to complete erection of major columns and equipment before the onset of the rain during monsoon in June.

Contractors have started closing down their project sites. Workers, including the skilled ones, are being sent away as part of closing the works.

Since many of the skilled and unskilled labourers are from different parts of the country, it would be difficult to mobilise the workforce again.

The situation threatened to further delay the completion of the works, said the statement from the oil refining company.