Work on the Kochi-Koottanadu- Bengaluru- Mangaluru LNG pipeline, held up for about three years, resumed at Edayar, near here, on Monday in the presence of senior officials of the State government and officials of Petronet LNG Ltd. and GAIL Gas.
The work resumed in the presence of a strong posse of the police, who arrested a group of people on the charge of trying to disrupt the work. They were arrested on instructions from Fort Kochi Sub-Collector S. Suhas, said a statement from the Department of Information and Public Relations.
Chief Secretary Jiji Thompson, who visited the site, said the works would be completed within a year.
He said the State government would extend all help to GAIL Gas to complete the works as scheduled. He later convened a meeting of officials to take stock of the pending pipeline works.
Apart from Mr. Thompson, Principal Secretary K. Suresh Kumar, who is looking after the pipeline works directly and District Collector M.G. Rajamanickam participated in the meeting held at Edayar.
Mr. Thompson said the pipeline works would not affect any house and that strict safety measures were being followed for the works.
The second phase of the pipe-laying works was awarded in January 2012 and should have been completed by May 13.
Still resistance
Stiff resistance from people in some of the northern districts had brought the works to a halt.
The works were resumed on an initiative of the State government. The completion of the remaining nearly 470-km pipeline work would put Kerala on the gas pipeline map of India. The completion of the pipeline would see better utilisation of the capacity of Petronet LNG’s gas terminal in Kochi.