04 July,2026 08:03 AM IST | Mumbai | Sarthak Mehta
A worker pumps out contaminated fuel from the affected tank. PIC/SARTHAK MEHTA
A fuel station in the western suburbs suffered water contamination in one of its fuel tanks due to waterlogging in the low-lying area on Wednesday. Motorists flagged the contamination at BP Fuel Station, Amboli, in Jogeshwari West, through a social media post. When mid-day visited the fuel station on Friday afternoon, two designated pumps for two-wheelers were closed while the rest of the facility remained operational. Staffers were seen sending motorists back while they pumped out foul-smelling liquid from one of the fuel tanks and dumped it in the drains.
Manilal Lalan, pump owner
Elevated roads nowadays lead to waterlogging towards our premises. Although all our storage tanks, inlets, and outlets are designed to avoid any such leaks and many precautions are taken, some water still managed to get through and mix with the fuel in one of our tanks. We suspect that the contamination must have happened at the inlet pump/pipe, where fuel from the tankers is unloaded and shifted to our storage tanks. All the contaminated fuel is being discarded now⦠I had to suffer the loss.
In the video from Wednesday, multiple motorists at the said fuel station premises could be seen alleging that their vehicles had stopped functioning following a fuel-up. A man showed some liquid in a transparent bottle that he claimed was the contaminated fuel which caused his vehicle to stop functioning. "Many of us have suffered here, and there is no response from the staff or pump owner," stated the individual shooting the video.
A fuel station staffer claimed on Friday that vehicles of those who reported the issue back to them were repaired for free. Another staffer said, "We have to empty the contaminated fuel from these tanks. We will also be assessing it for any internal leaks. After that the tank will be refilled by the evening supply truck."
Last year, a BPCL-run petrol pump near Glomax Mall, Kharghar, witnessed a similar incident wherein water had reportedly mixed with petrol, and several vehicles were affected due to the contamination. The company had borne the repair costs of the affected vehicles and rectified the source of the leak.
An expert familiar with challenges the petrol dealers face, said,
This is a frequent issue. Mostly, the contamination happens at the vehicle owners' end. Many pump owners had installed notices warning customers about the dangers of water contamination with ethanol-blended fuel, but we have removed these after facing direct pressure from the ministry. Occasionally, the contamination takes place at the dealer level due to waterlogging, and the dealer has to suffer the losses. A dealer is the last person to knowingly allow this. We often ask oil company officials to inspect the monsoon readiness of our premises, but they don't send anyone. Every year we communicate our concerns to the company with a suitable solution - no ethanol blending during rains, which will ease the problem for all - but they don't listen.
Nitin Dossa, president, Western India Automobile Association
Vehicle owners complaining of this is very common during rains, and it ends up being a very costly repair, especially for larger vehicles. I hope affected vehicle owners get appropriate compensation for repairs. It is the joint responsibility of the fuel pump owners and the oil companies to ensure that contamination like this is prevented.
[popcorn number="July 1" desc="Day the incident was reported" class="Default"]
