Why is MHA sitting on a time bomb?
14 Dec 2012 12:50 AM GMT
National security is serious business. But on one hand, the Ministry of Home Affairs upheaves the everyday lives of ordinary Indians with inane security checks, on the other, nearly 3,500 MT of ammonium nitrate (AN) is being ‘wasted’ every year while handling. It takes just two kg of AN to cause a big blast. And yes, terrorists have been using AN – in Pune, this year, for instance – to carry out terror attacks.
What is more shocking is the final draft of the rule being promulgated to regulate the manufacture, storing, transporting, handling and using of ammonium nitrate (AN) has been diluted to safeguard the interest of the import lobby.
As the domestic manufacturing industry alone is unable to meet the annual demand of 650,000 MT of AN, India imports almost 50 per cent as fertilizer grade for the explosives industry. Herein comes the troubling bit. While the domestic AN manufacturing industry is fairly organised – domestic manufacturers supply AN only in bagged and sealed form, and the consignment is totally accounted for – it is being imported into India in loose form, without even the gunny sacks.
The system of handling and dispatching the imported fertilizer-grade AN in loose form allows a handling loss of 0.5– 1 per cent of the cargo. This means that with nearly 3,50,000 MT of AN imported every year, there is an annual loss of between 1,750 and 3,500 MT of AN, which is unaccounted for and is going unnoticed.
It is alleged that a vested interest lobby, mostly located in Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, has played a key role in influencing the Ministry of Home Affairs in the way it is being imported. MHA obviously is not worried that this could increase national security threat. And this comes in the face of various warnings issued by the security agencies, particularly after the recent attack in Pune.
In the beginning of 2008, home ministry did constitute a committee, comprising the director of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), chief controller of explosives and deputy secretary of the Department of Fertilisers, to prepare set of rules covering entire chain of AN from manufacturing to end-use. But it was only in December 2008, after the Delhi blast, that the home ministry decided to include AN as a Special Category Explosive Substance under the Explosive Substances Act. AN Rules 2009 were drafted under the aegis of the Ministry of Home Affairs and mainly targeted at ensuring national security. But the Ministry of Law held that these rules cannot be framed under Explosive Substances Act and hence the process should be re-convened to draft the rules under Explosives Act. Therefore, there was no definitive conclusion to this exercise in 2009-2010.
But a series of bomb blasts in Delhi and in Mumbai in 2011 brought the focus back to AN. Finally, on 21 July 2011, the DIPP issued a gazette notification classifying AN under the Explosives Act 1884 and said that separate rules will be framed for AN under the said Act. In September 2011, the DIPP posted the draft of AN Rules 2011 on its web site, calling for response/ representations from all stakeholders. After considering the feedback from all relevant stakeholders, a March 2012 Draft of the AN Rules has now been sent to the law ministry for vetting.
The final draft of the AN Rules 2012, which incorporates a number of strict measures in manufacturing, storing, transporting, handling and using of AN, however, leaves a major loophole by continuing to allow import of AN in bulk and un-bagged form. The proposed rule merely suggests that AN shall ‘preferably’ be imported in the bagged form.
This is a major security concern. The 3,500 MT that is being ‘wasted’, in effect, could be used to blow up India. Perhaps, the home ministry is waiting for yet another disaster to happen before it acts.
What is more shocking is the final draft of the rule being promulgated to regulate the manufacture, storing, transporting, handling and using of ammonium nitrate (AN) has been diluted to safeguard the interest of the import lobby.
As the domestic manufacturing industry alone is unable to meet the annual demand of 650,000 MT of AN, India imports almost 50 per cent as fertilizer grade for the explosives industry. Herein comes the troubling bit. While the domestic AN manufacturing industry is fairly organised – domestic manufacturers supply AN only in bagged and sealed form, and the consignment is totally accounted for – it is being imported into India in loose form, without even the gunny sacks.
The system of handling and dispatching the imported fertilizer-grade AN in loose form allows a handling loss of 0.5– 1 per cent of the cargo. This means that with nearly 3,50,000 MT of AN imported every year, there is an annual loss of between 1,750 and 3,500 MT of AN, which is unaccounted for and is going unnoticed.
It is alleged that a vested interest lobby, mostly located in Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, has played a key role in influencing the Ministry of Home Affairs in the way it is being imported. MHA obviously is not worried that this could increase national security threat. And this comes in the face of various warnings issued by the security agencies, particularly after the recent attack in Pune.
In the beginning of 2008, home ministry did constitute a committee, comprising the director of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), chief controller of explosives and deputy secretary of the Department of Fertilisers, to prepare set of rules covering entire chain of AN from manufacturing to end-use. But it was only in December 2008, after the Delhi blast, that the home ministry decided to include AN as a Special Category Explosive Substance under the Explosive Substances Act. AN Rules 2009 were drafted under the aegis of the Ministry of Home Affairs and mainly targeted at ensuring national security. But the Ministry of Law held that these rules cannot be framed under Explosive Substances Act and hence the process should be re-convened to draft the rules under Explosives Act. Therefore, there was no definitive conclusion to this exercise in 2009-2010.
But a series of bomb blasts in Delhi and in Mumbai in 2011 brought the focus back to AN. Finally, on 21 July 2011, the DIPP issued a gazette notification classifying AN under the Explosives Act 1884 and said that separate rules will be framed for AN under the said Act. In September 2011, the DIPP posted the draft of AN Rules 2011 on its web site, calling for response/ representations from all stakeholders. After considering the feedback from all relevant stakeholders, a March 2012 Draft of the AN Rules has now been sent to the law ministry for vetting.
The final draft of the AN Rules 2012, which incorporates a number of strict measures in manufacturing, storing, transporting, handling and using of AN, however, leaves a major loophole by continuing to allow import of AN in bulk and un-bagged form. The proposed rule merely suggests that AN shall ‘preferably’ be imported in the bagged form.
This is a major security concern. The 3,500 MT that is being ‘wasted’, in effect, could be used to blow up India. Perhaps, the home ministry is waiting for yet another disaster to happen before it acts.
Next Story
