IndianOil to keep track of tankers via GPS
New Delhi   25-Jan-2008
In an effort to check pilferage of oil from its oil tankers, IndianOil has embarked on an ambitious project to install ground positioning system (GPS) to track the route taken by its tankers. Highly placed sources in the IndianOil informed The Tribune that the project is now being implemented in all state offices of the company. It is expected that the project will become functional by the end of June. Surveys have already been carried out to for route mapping in various states. A final survey by a private consultancy is now on after which the GPS instrument will be installed on each tanker lorry. The cost of each instrument is around Rs 20,000. It is learnt that the movement of all tanker Lorries ferrying oil from the various terminals and depots will be monitored at the area head office in the states. In case of any deviation from the designate route, the tanker lorry drivers can be immediately pulled up. This move follows large scale complaints of pilferage while the oil is being ferried from terminals to customers. Two years ago, tanker lorries ferrying oil from terminals and depots in Punjab to the army filling stations in Ladakh, were caught supplying water as the oil was pilfered along the way. It was then that the tankers were installed with a unique locking system, wherein they could be opened either by officials at the terminal or by the customer. However, as incidents of pilferage were still reported, IndianOil decided to install a GPS system. H.S. Bedi, general manager, Punjab state office, IndianOil, informed The Tribune that about 2,200 tanker lorries in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, will be installed with a GPS instrument and the system will be in place in the next five months.