The expert panel has raised apprehensions about the stability of the land where Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has started work for its LPG storage facility.
The panel noted that Puthuvype was a “recently accreted coastal stretch”, and that the shoreline change maps provided by the National Centre for Earth Science Studies indicated that the “coastal stretch is still undergoing accretion and erosion (other than the usual monsoonal / post monsoonal erosion / accretion) over different years, indicating that the coast is yet to get stabilized,” the report pointed out.
On the risks posed by extreme events like tsunami and surge waves, it said the minimum floor level prescribed for structures on the Kerala coast was 3.8 metres above the Mean Sea Level. The structures of IOCL should take into account the minimum floor level suggested for the Kerala coast, the panel suggested.
The government was forced to constitute the committee as the police crackdown against protesters had evoked sharp response from various quarters. The police had used force against the protesters who marched to the city on the eve of the Presidential visit to Kochi on June 16 at High Court Junction.
Several protesters were seriously injured in the police action. The agitation was led by Puthuvype LPG Terminal Virudha Janakeeya Samara Samiti, a people’s combine. As the government intervened and tried to negotiate with the protesters, the company suspended work.
The panel has found a “mismatch in the distance from High Tide Line (HTL) to the project site given in the environmental clearance with actual construction undertaken.” The mismatch should be “revisited and, if necessary, corrected,” it suggested.
The experts observed a “landward shift in HTL due to erosion in the area since 2010. During the site visit, a 30-m landward shift of HTL was noted on the southern side. The southern part of the boundary wall of the IOCL LPG storage facility, though intact, is at present in the intertidal zone. At the same time, IOCL got environmental clearance in 2010 and accordingly initiated construction work.”
Climate change and possible sea level rise and related risks to the project have also been highlighted by the panel.
Noting that the sea level is rising in coastal areas near the Indian Ocean and thus Kochi area too, the expert committee said the “observed trend of sea level rise at Kochi is 1.75 mm / year.”
The use of this data will give better results on understanding inundation due to climate change, it said. The “risk analysis report shows some of the inhabited areas could be affected by certain higher risk levels. A detailed disaster management plan must be in place before the operation stage,” it proposed.
Compensation
On the promises given to fisher and local community regarding compensatory facilities like fish landing centre and compensation for livelihood loss during various stages of development of establishments like LNG Petronet, BPCL, and Special Economic Zone, the panel pointed out that many of the promises remained unfulfilled.
The panel suggested that “multi-hazard coastal vulnerability may be considered in the design of coastal protection measures.”
IOCL, Cochin Port Trust, BPCL, and Petronet LNG should follow the “conditions / stipulations in environmental clearance for the road constructed from Vypeen to IOCL, BPCL and Petronet LNG facilities,” the panel directed.