State-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd. is leaving no stone unturned to finish the natural gas pipeline laying work in Kozhikode district even as resistance from local people continue to beset its efforts.
Work on laying pipes for around 79.5 km in the district has already begun in Kinallur and its adjoining areas. The survey has been completed and right of way has been obtained for all except a 4-km stretch, says M. Viju, chief manager, GAIL.
However, the multicrore project as part of the Kochi-Koottanad-Bengaluru-Mangaluru natural gas network faces resistance from local communities. Some of the confrontations are in rural areas such as Omassery, Mukkom, Thamarassery and Karassery.
The project needs 160 hectares to lay pipes in the district. More than 600 people will be affected. They will lose their cultivated land and some buildings, K.C. Anwar, district president, Solidarity Youth Movement, and convener of the GAIL Victims Forum, said.
He said the Kerala High Court-appointed commission had collected evidence from the people against GAIL (India) misleading the people about the project. “We are awaiting the report. Local-level resistance is mounting now. At one or two places the felling of trees has been blocked following the protests. Compensation is not the solution. The project should be shelved,” he said.
Nevertheless, GAIL is going ahead with the compensation package, Mr. Viju said. “We believe that the protest will stop with the distribution of amount. After all, we are not acquiring their land. We have time till April- May 2018 to complete the project,” he pointed out.
The pipeline is being laid in accordance with the Petroleum and Minerals Pipe Line (Acquisition of Right of Users in Land) Act. Further, no buildings will be demolished for the project. The fears about accidents are unfounded, he said.