The Thamizhaga Meenavar Kootani has demanded that the alignment of crude oil pipeline to be laid by the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL) to its Manali refinery be changed.
Addressing a press meet here on Tuesday, Jayapalayan of the South Indian Fishermen Federation said a pipeline along the coast could be damaged by sea erosion, which is why the fishermen were demanding that the alignment be changed. “Sea erosion has changed the features of the coastline every 10 years and over the last 30 years, it has swallowed about two km of land. A damage to the pipeline and a possible oil spill could lead to long-lasting impact on the environment,” he said.
Ko.Su. Mani of the Tamil Nadu Meenavar Makkal Sangam said they had witnessed the damage caused to the Ennore Creek, northern stretch of Buckingham Canal and the Kosasthalaiyar by various government projects. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment and Forests give permissions to large projects, especially those by government agencies, without considering the fact that humans or the environment would be affected, he alleged.
The new 17-km-long crude oil pipeline will be laid from the Chennai port to CPCL’s Manali refinery. The pipeline is crucial to the 10.5 million tonne Manali facility that meets the fuel needs Tof amil Nadu and Puducherry and parts of neighbouring States as well.
Official sources in CPCL said that the new pipeline would have added safety features, particularly the globally followed SCADA technology that would help monitor the line for any drop in pressure or other disturbances.
“The pipelines are even laid on the sea bed and there are technologies to handle calamities. SCADA too is such a technology,” the official explained.
The project has been cleared by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways too since most of it runs alongside the Ennore Expressway.
