Date:08/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/08/stories/2009010853641100.htm

National

Oil strike: 20 officers suspended, 2 arrested

Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI: Defying the stay order by the High Court, the Oil Sector Officers Association (OSOA) went on an indefinite strike from Wednesday morning. This led to disruption in supply of gas to priority areas, including power plants, impacting work in four main Indian Oil Corporation refineries and forcing shutdown of the Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline.

The government came down strongly on the agitating employees and suspended 20 oil sector officers — 11 from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), and three each from the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Gas Authority India Limited (GAIL) — and arrested two ONGC officers for participating in the strike.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram reviewed the situation arising out of the strikes by oil sector executives and truckers at a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary, the Petroleum Secretary and the Transport Secretary.

Petroleum Secretary R.S. Pandey said Indian Oil Corporation had deployed the Territorial Army personnel to man its installations at Mumbai and Delhi airports to ensure that air traffic was not disrupted. The Indian Oil Corporation said the Haldia refinery was completely shut down while its Panipat, Mathura and Koyali refineries were in the “cooling down” phase — a process before the units are completely shut down.