National Green Tribunal rules out safety concerns of LPG plant in Puthuvypeen
Kochi: The National Green Tribunal on Friday dismissed a petition against the implementation of the LPG storage import terminal project at Puthuvypeen in Kochi by the Indian Oil Corporation. The Chennai bench of the tribunal rejected the two main arguments – safety concerns and the terminal being within 200 metres of the high tide line -- raised by the opponents of the project. The LPG Virudha Samara Samithi spearheading an agitation against the project for the past 300 days said that they would continue the agitation. “We will decide on approaching the Supreme Court against the NGT verdict after receiving a copy of the judgment,” said Mr M.B. Jayaghosh, chairman of the samithi.
The National Green Tribunal on Friday dismissed a petition against the implementation of the LPG storage import terminal project at Puthuvypeen in Kochi by the Indian Oil Corporation. The Chennai bench of the tribunal rejected the two main arguments – safety concerns and the terminal being within 200 metres of the high tide line -- raised by the opponents of the project. The LPG Virudha Samara Samithi spearheading an agitation against the project for the past 300 days said that they would continue the agitation. “We will decide on approaching the Supreme Court against the NGT verdict after receiving a copy of the judgment,” said Mr M.B. Jayaghosh, chairman of the samithi.
The NGT upheld the IOC’s contention that storage of LPG is a permitted activity at the sea shore under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms and hence the project does not in any way offend those norms. The NGT, however, directed the IOC to undertake sea protection measures to arrest sea erosion at the project site and other measures suggested by the expert committee appointed by the state government. This is the second time the NGT has rejected a petition against the LPG terminal project at Puthuvypeen. Earlier, the samithi had filed an appeal against the extension of the environmental clearance to the project. Although it filed an appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court, the court declined to allow the same.
The work on the project has been stalled for the past 10 months following the agitation by the samithi expressing serious apprehensions over the safety of the project. The issue had snowballed into a major controversy with the police action against the women and children in June 2017 ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the launch of the first phase of the Kochi Metro project. According to the IOC, the completion of Rs 714.25- crore LPG import terminal will go a long way in reducing the LPG transportation through bulk carriers in the state. The project is also expected to improve the revenue of the state government. According to the IOC officials, the company has been incurring a loss of nearly Rs 1 crore per day due to the stoppage of the work at the project site.
