KOZHIKODE: Hundreds of people, including women from Kottoor near Perambra in the district, protested against the survey team for the GAIL pipeline project for the third consecutive day on Thursday. A large posse of police headed by Perambra Circle Inspector P.K. Sunilkumar blocked the agitators near the survey spot. Mr Subhash Kottoor, leader of the GAIL Victims Forum, told DC that the survey was in violation of the existing laws of the land.
“We will not allow the arbitrary approach of the GAIL team which fixes the compensation as well as the safety parameters on our own,” he added. “Certain stretches of the land identified are thickly populated,” he said and added that hundreds of people living in the locality would be affected. Some portions of many houses are being taken over for the project. But the compensation is meagre, it was pointed out.
“It is also a social problem as many of us would be living under constant fear in future,” say localites. However, the GAIL authorities said that they were only implementing a government project. Mr M.Viju, GAIL project chief manager (construction), said that it was the duty of the government to provide protection to them. “We will continue with our work so long as we get police protection,” he added. “We will ensure that the pipes are leak-proof,” he said.
