Oil major Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited is assessing the damage caused to Visakh Refinery due to Cyclone Hudhud after shutting it down. “Inspection of various facilities is now going on by senior officials and technical experts. The refinery has been closed temporarily as a precautionary measure,” a senior official told The Hindu on Tuesday.
Most of the roofs of various facilities at the refinery had been blown away under the impact of gusty winds which lashed the coast at a speed reaching up to 210 km per hour on Sunday. The refinery has an installed capacity of 8.3 million tonne per annum and it is waiting for clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests for expanding to 15 million tonne.
After completion of assessment of damage, HPCL authorities will decide the date of reviving the operations. “Now the refinery is in a bad shape. We are hopeful that it will be revived at the earliest. Normalcy will be ensured within five to seven days of resuming the operations,” the official pointed out.
