Mangalore, Jan 30: Disgruntled with the response of the HPCL officials, affected land owners of the proposed 397-km long LPG pipeline of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) on Thursday, voiced their strong ojection to the project and staged yet another walk-out of the review meeting called by the deputy commissioner to discuss compensation for the land acquired for the project.
Before walking out of the meeting, residents of Mangalore taluk whose land falls under the proposed Mangalore-Bangalore LPG pipeline raised questions on the safety standards of the proposed pipeline and its surroundings, despite assurances by HPCL officials of following requisite safety norms while laying the pipeline.
The land owners alleged that the required safety norms were not implemented when the petroleum pipeline had been laid by HPCL/Petronet in 2001, which ran parallel to the proposed LPG pipeline. “Due to the problems we have faced by the Petronet pipeline, we are against the LPG pipeline. Why should the pipelines be laid only on cultivated land, and not along national highways?” they collectively argued, stressing that they would not allow their land to be acquired.
Dinesh Kumar Alva, resident of Maravoor village in Mangalore taluk, contended that the company HPCL had not provided them with necessary information on the project till recently. The officials conduct surveys on our land without our permission and knowledge. On what grounds should we hand over our land to HPCL?” he demanded.
A disgruntled Ismail Maravoor protested that the proposed pipeline should not be laid on the land belonging to farmers. “For merely 10 percent of the guidance value as compensation, we will not let the company acquire our lands. We will not even have a right to our own land once the pipeline is laid,” he argued.
The land owners also complained that once the pipeline was laid underground, neither could they cultivate deep-rooted plants on the land nor sell it to others. They also demanded to be provided with the environmental impact assessment report of the project.
Responding to the objections raised by the land owners, deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim pointed that the consent of land owners was not necessary for land acquisition for a government-sponsored project under the Petroleum and Minerals Pipeline Act, 1962.
He, however, agreed to communicate the objections raised by the affected land owners to the state government, and also assured them that the pipeline would not be laid under any residence or structure.
“I will give a written statement to each land owner certifying that the pipeline would not be laid under any residence and that they would be allowed to cultivate any crop including coconut and arecanut,” he assured.
However, dissatisfied with the kind of response shown by the DC and officials, the land owners staged a walk-out.
Special Land Acquisition officer Krishna Murthy, HPCL pipeline chief project manager Ramesh Kumar, project manager Yuvaraj and others were present.
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