LNG pipeline: Govt sitting on compensation file

Kochi: If Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan were to keep his word to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the GAIL gas pipeline project would be completed in two years, then he will have to ensure that the state government did its part of the bargain. GAIL sources said the recommendation of the district collectors for enhanced compensation to land owners has been pending with the government for the last four months.

“We have communicated to the government that GAIL was willing to pay whatever compensation the government would decide but no action has been forthcoming from it,” said the sources. The project which seeks to evacuate liquefied natural gas stored in the two terminals of Petronet LNG in Kochi to Mangalore and Bengaluru has been making little headway for the last three years.

The landowners, who first objected to the project as such, now say they would be willing to withdraw their objections provided the project avoided densely populated areas and they are given adequate compensation. GAIL had originally suggested that it will pay 10 per cent of five times the fair value of the land for the right of use but many landowners opposed the formula saying it was inadequate.

Some district collectors then came up with the formula which provides for paying three times the fair value of the land as compensation to the land owners.

“Though the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962, provides for 10 per cent of the ‘value’ as compensation, it gives the government the freedom to fix the value,” said GAIL sources. “This provides the government leeway to fix a higher compensation.”

GAIL estimates that it will have to pay an additional Rs 300 crore if the recommendation was accepted. “Original estimate for compensation was Rs 168 crore, but the company has communicated to the government that it was willing to pay more as the project is too important for us,” the sources said.

Residents gear up for next round of protest

Hundreds of residents in Kodur and Kavanoor panchayats in Malappuram are bracing for the next  round of protests against the LDF government’s move to go ahead with the proposed GAIL gas pipeline project without solving the apprehensions of the  villagers.   “Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should  visit the places and assess the situation,” says V. Marakkar, one of the affected persons  from Kodur.

Hundreds of villagers had prevented the  officials  of GAIL and the revenue department from proceeding with the land acquisition procedures in Kodur panchayat  last year. There are 382 affected families in Kavanoor panchayat where seven km of the gas pipeline is proposed to be laid.   

“An assessment study done by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) had explained the impact of such a project in densely populated area,” says Narayanan Nabeeshan, a lawyer and an affected party in Kavanoor, adding that they would continue their struggle.