A day after the decision to temporarily halt work on the LPG import terminal project at Puthuvype, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday sought to allay fears of local residents over the project.
Interacting with civil society leaders here, Mr. Vijayan said people would soon get convinced of the safety aspects of the project.
He reiterated that the government would appoint an expert committee to look into the alleged violation of environment regulations and reminded that the project had all necessary approvals. The Chief Minister said people need not be concerned about the eviction of encroachers in Munnar. “There will be no compromise in the case of big-time encroachers, while small settlers will be dealt with care,” Mr. Vijayan added. He exhorted people to come out in unison to address waste menace. “A special drive for waste disposal will be held for three days from June 27. Apart from waste treatment at source, a centralised waste treatment system will be effectively implemented in the State,” he said.
Failed projects
The Chief Minister added that the government had decided to intervene in the waste menace issue on finding that the projects formulated to address it under the Haritha Kerala Mission had failed to fully resolve the problem. All precautionary measures have been taken to contain the outbreak of fever and other epidemics, he said.
Apart from government doctors, the services of other doctors will be made available at hospitals which are thronged by fever patients. Literary critic M.K. Sanoo, Dr. Jose Chacko Periyapuram, former Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court K. Narayana Kurup and CPI(M) district secretary P. Rajeev were present.
