Remains of the 1998 Khanapara oil tanker blaze. Picture by UB Photos

Sept. 15: Six years is a long time. But if you happen to be a victim of a blast, or a kin of a victim, government officials will tell you that it is no time at all.

For, even after six years, Dispur has failed to compensate victims of the 1998 oil tanker blast at Khanapara, one of the worst tragedies to have struck the city, that killed 13 and injured 134.

According to the reports available with the office of Kamrup Metropolitan District Administration and the revenue and rehabilitation department, kith and kin of six deceased and 115 injured in the blast have not received anything in ?kind or cash? as compensation from the state government.

For some it is already too late. For example, the parents of Bijoy Das, who perished in the blaze, passed away last year, after suffering in silence for over half a decade. Neighbours said the duo never came to terms with the loss of their only son and the government apathy that followed.

What has saddened the victims more is the that Dispur has not even thought it fit to implement the recommendations of the one-man inquiry committee probing the causes and circumstances leading to the tanker blast at the Assam Petroleum Transport (APT) depot on the night of November 1, 1998.

The committee, of the then Lower Assam commissioner Naba Kumar Das, had recommended adequate compensation to the victims and harsh punishment to the culprits.

Acting on a PIL, Gauhati High Court, too, had asked the state chief secretary to implement the recommendations of the Das committee.

General secretary of Khanapara Tanker Blast Victims Suraksha Samiti Biman Hazarika told The Telegraph: ?Forget about compensation, the government has not even bothered to take any action against persons such as Ratan Singh, Kulbinder Singh, Gurucharan Singh and Gurdev Singh, who according to inquiry committee report, were responsible for loss of human lives and damage of property in the tanker blast.?

Hazarika said the Suraksha Samiti has submitted several representations to the chief secretary, the deputy commissioner of Kamrup Metropolitan and the Dispur MLA demanding compensation to the blast victims. ?All they do is pass the buck.?

The 10-bigha plot of land where the APT depot was situated has been sold to Assam Rifles and Nikita Pvt Ltd. The Surkasha Samiti, which has been given three kathas, plans to build a memorial to the blast victims.

The blast took place when the APT owners were engaged in pilfering liquid petroleum gas (LPG) from a loaded tanker to an empty one. The impact of the devastation could be gauged from the fact that fireballs emanating from the blaze lit up the city skyline. Several other tankers parked inside the depot too were reduced to ashes.

Despite several attempts, chief secretary J.P. Rajkhowa, commissioner and secretary of home B.K. Gohain and deputy commissioner A.K. Absar Hazarika were not available for comment. While the first two were busy with a cabinet meeting, the deputy commissioner is out of station.

A senior official said compensation had been paid to the next of kin of seven students of the nearby College of Veterinary Sciences who were killed in the accident. Nineteen members of the college?s staff, who had been injured, have also received compensation. He, however, failed to answer why the other victims or their kin were not given the same. The Surkash Samiti accused the government of playing favourites while granting compensation.