Amid Manipur crisis Territorial Army ensures vital fuel supply

Imphal, May 23 (IANS) Amid the ethnic strife, the Territorial Army of the 414 Army Service Corps Battalion (Marketing) successfully operationalised three vital oil installations -- Imphal Aviation Fueling Station, Malom Bulk Oil Depot and Sekmai LPG Bottling Plant, which were energy life line for Manipur.

Defence Spokesman Lt. Col. Amit Shukla said on Tuesday that 414 Army Service Corps Battalion Marketing (Territorial Army) is one of the battalions raised in 1983 by the Government of India to cater for handling emergencies.

The battalion is affiliated to the Marketing Division and has over 100 employees of the Indian Oil.

These employees are trained by Army and Indian Oil to handle oil and gas installations (POL/LPG/Aviation) independently. They are also kept abreast with nuances of operating various oil locations across the country periodically.

Lt. Col. Shukla said that in the wake of the crisis that engulfed Manipur, the employees and the contract workers of oil marketing companies were not able to reach installations due to security constraints or had to be evacuated due to ethnic violence.

The installations were, therefore, either shut due to non availability of employees or, not fully operational due to shortage of manpower leading to the operational necessity of deploying Territorial Army led by Maj Vijay Bariwal to manage the three vital oil installations.

The battalion was tasked to take control of oil installations which were not operational and augment manpower where there is shortage and ensure supplies of essential POL products and Refueling of Aircrafts.

True to its rich history, the battalion reached Imphal within 48 hours of being given orders from different parts of the country and with relentless hard work within 12 hours, Malom depot was made fully operational tank trucks were dispatched, Aviation Turbine Fuel tankers decanted and several flights both civil and defence refuelled.

The depot is functioning at the same efficiency level as was existing in days preceding the crisis with more than 400 tank trucks despatched to various petrol pumps across Manipur, Manipur Police, Army and Assam Rifles units.

Seeing the stupendous performance, the initial tasking was expanded and the Territorial Army Battalion was tasked to assist in the operations of Sekmai LPG Bottling Plant, 26 km from the Imphal, a task which was done with elan with approximately 8,000-10,000 cylinders being despatched daily.

Lt. Gen. H.S Sahi, General Officer Commanding 3 Corps visited the units and commended the team for yeoman service being rendered by 414 ASC Battalion (Territorial Army) which averted a major crisis that had the potential to escalate to unfathomable levels.

He exhorted everyone to continue discharging their duties with the same zeal and enthusiasm in ensuring energy security for Manipur state.