Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the State government cannot afford to give up the LPG unit at Puthuvype in Kochi as it will send a wrong image about the State as an investment destination.
Briefing reporters about the details of the deliberations he had with representatives of an action council of local residents, IOC, local bodies, and political leaders here on Wednesday, Mr. Vijayan said the government would constitute an expert committee to find out whether Indian Oil Corporation had violated the norms stipulated in the environment clearance accorded for constructing the LPG unit, a Central government project launched in 2009 and whose work commenced in 2012.
Mr. Vijayan said the company representatives had consented to suspend the work till the expert committee submitted its report after a fact-finding mission. The action council too had agreed to abide by the decisions of the meeting.
The company was constructing the plant as per international safety norms and as per the provisions of the environmental clearance accorded to the project, he said.
But the government was aware of the public concerns and was sympathetic to it. Hence, steps would be taken to allay the public concern about the project. The government would not neglect the issues raised by the local people in a project area. The policy was to rehabilitate the affected and it had been proved too, he said.
IOC has secured clearances from various agencies for the project and the plant is being constructed as per international safety standards. It has complied with the Coastal Zone Regulation norms and the National Green Tribunal itself had said that there are no violations in this regard.
The plant was adequately protected to brave tsunami or even a bomb explosion and had a system to check gas leak with an alert mechanism. Still, the government would look into all issues raised by the local residents at the discussions, Mr. Vijayan said.