GAIL resumes pipe, Chief secretary Jiji Thomson warns agitators

Kochi: The long-stalled work on the pipeline project to carry liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Puthuvype terminal near the city to Coimbatore and Mangalore resumed on Monday amid protests and Chief secretary Jiji Thomson’s stern warning that the Government would slap stringent provisions on “troublemakers”.

GAIL Ltd started the work, by welding of pipelines at Edayar in Ernakulam district. GAIL sources said pipeline welding was crucial, which would go ahead in the coming days. 

“We had cancelled contracts for the pipeline project last year and have now returned on government reassurance that it would procure the right of way for pipeline-laying from land owners,” the sources said.

Mr Jiji Thomson and principal secretary (special projects) K Suresh Kumar were present when the work resumed and a section of residents protested, alleging that  the project put their lives at risk because of poor safety measures.

Mr Thomson told Deccan Chronicle that the government was determined to go ahead as the state’s development and Central help for the state’s projects hinged on the pipeline’s success.

“We have received legal advice that the government can use provisions of the Disaster Management Act 2005 which empowers it to take people into preventive custody if they objected to a project which seeks to avert disasters,” he said.

The pipeline project seeks to end the practice of carrying natural gas in tankers across the state. There have been many accidents and loss of lives, he said.

Mr Thomson said the protesters had no ground as the government had already secured the right of use of the land where the work resumed. “We shall continue to work with the people in other districts and convince them of merits of the project and elaborate safety protocols we follow in the project,” he said. 

Aluva deputy superintendent of police P P Shams said the police took 15 persons into preventive custody. “They are local residents and belong to political parties of all hues,” he said. A spokesperson of the Peeditha Janakeeya Koottayma (Forum of Oppressed People) said they were rounded up when they reached the work site to make a representation to the chief secretary. “We had no plans to obstruct the work,” he said.