Yet another meet on HPCL pipeline issue ends in deadlock
Mangalore Today News Network
Mangalore, Jan 31, 2014: The impasse over the letting of land for the proposed HPCL’s gas pipeline project continues with yet another meeting convened by the Deputy Commissioner on January 31, Thursday as a last ditch effort to settle the compensation issue, ending in a deadlock.Farmers of Mangalore taluk who attended the meeting walking out. An earlier meeting held at Belthangady too had met the same fate with farmers refusing to let their land for the project.
Thursday’s meeting was attended by farmers from Maravoor, Gurupur and nearby villages. They strongly opposed any move to acquire their land under the Petroleum and Minerals Pipeline (Acquisition of Rights of User in Land) Act. Condemning the HPCL for offering only 10 per cent of the guidance value as compensation while getting the right of user in land, the villagers said the authorities should either acquire the entire land or refrain from acquiring land.
The participant villagers also had apprehensions over the safety of the project. However, responding to this, an HPCL officer said all safety mechanisms will be in place and safety and risk assessment was done by NEERI.
Deputy Commissioner AB Ibrahim who presided over the meeting said that land has already been notified for the project and the district administration can do nothing to withdraw the project. He also said that such projects require no permission from the land owners.
The Deputy Commissioner who spoke to media men later, said that a compensation amount which is equal to six times of the guidance value has been proposed in Mangalore taluk and five times the guidance value in Belthangady taluk. This is the highest compensation offered for an HPCL project, he said adding in Hassan, farmers were offered four times the guidance value as compensation.
Special Land Acquisition Officer Krishna Murthy, HPCL pipeline chief project manager Ramesh Kumar, project manager and several others participated in the meeting,.