OREANDA-NEWS. The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has chalked out a massive plan to upgrade the capacity of its Doimukh depot, near here and proposed to transport oil to the depot through railway tanker once the railway track from Harmutty in Assam to Naharlagun is commissioned. IOC officials disclosed this to Lok Sabha member from Arunachal Pradesh Takam Sanjoy during a meeting here recently which was attended by Guwahati NE integrated state office's general manager P Dey, DGM (LPG) A C Sarma and DGM (Operations) L N Phukon, official sources said here today.

Against a total annual requirements of 76000 LK petrol, 2,80,000 lk diesel and 11,568 KL kerosene oil, the storing capacity of the Doimukh depot feeding Papum Pare, Kurung Kumey, Lower and Upper Subansiri districts would be increased by about three times. Fed from Tinsukia and Guwahati depots by oil tankers, the Doimukh depot's present capacity of 1000 KL petrol, 3,900 KL diesel and 1,400 KL kerosene oil would be increased to 3800 KL petrol, 8000 KL diesel and 2,500 KL Kerosene respectively to be supplied by railway tankers, sources said.

The IOC needs 37.17 acre land against the existing 7.16 acres and had already procured 27 acre with the help of Papum Pare district administration by paying compensation but the rest about three acres for laying railway line to the depot is needed. The North East Frontier Railway had submitted a plan last year suitable for laying railway track to the depot but neither had consulted the district administration and nor won the confidence of the land owners, said Papum Pare deputy commissioner Pige Ligu.

Responding to IOC's appeal for cooperation of the state government and the land owners to not delay the project as the upgraded project would store buffer stock to meet state's requirements for two months, Sanjoy suggested to hold a meeting of the NF Railway and IOC officials along with the district administration and land owners to find a solution on give and take basis, sources said.