Mangaluru: Responding to the concerns raised on the safety and alignment of the gas pipeline proposed by Gas Authority of India Limited(GAIL) in the district, Deputy Commissioner, Dr K G Jagadeesha has decided to ask an independent agency to look into a possible alternate alignment for it.
GAIL plans to lay a LNG pipeline from Kochi to Mangaluru, cutting across 16 villages in Dakshina Kannada district. Several people who stand to lose their land to it raised several concerns about the project at a meeting held here on Thursday.
Some were afraid gas could leak from the pipeline as in Andhra Pradesh where many died as a result. Referring to the incident, a villager from Meramajalu urged the government to keep the pipeline out of the district for the sake of the people's safety . One Krishna Prasad Rai of Adyapady village lamented that the project was still being considered despite the opposition to it.
"There are already three pipelines here and now a notification has been issued for a fourth line on my land. My fields are filled with pipelines instead of crops. Of my 36 acres, we have lost 24 acres to pipelines," he regretted.
Noting people's objections, Dr Jagadeesha observed that some wanted the gas pipeline to be laid either on the seashore, near a river bank or beside the national highway. "Let the agency study if this can be done. If not, then let it also examine the possibility of the present line being realigned," he said, asking the activists to propose the agency to do the study. If they could not come up with one, he would request NITK-Surathkal, to do the survey. "The report will be placed before the people. Only if they agree will we go ahead," he promised.
