More protests planned in Kozhikode against GAIL project

People fear repeat of Andhra incident that claimed 22 lives

Not a single day passes in Kozhikode district without a protest against the laying of the GAIL pipeline project.

Sometimes the protests are huge like the one witnessed at Nellikaparamba village near Mukkom, 32 km from Kozhikode city, where 500 people, including women, assembled against the implementation of the project. “At least 600 people in the district will be affected. The majority will lose their cultivated land and some buildings,” said K.C. Anwar, district president, Solidarity Youth Movement, and convener of GAIL Victims Forum.

Pipes will be laid for around 80 km in Kozhikode district as part of the GAIL Kochi-Koottanad-Bengaluru-Mangaluru natural gas project. More than 90% of the survey is over, and only a section of the Kannur spread at Nadapuram-Thooneri needs to be finished now.

The project needs 160 hectares in the district. Largely the protests are centred around the hill region of Thamarassery, Mukkom, and Karassery. Villagers are also apprehensive of incidents like the fire in GAIL pipeline in Andhra Pradesh in 2014 that killed 22 people.

“We have decided to intensify protests in the coming days. Earlier, the CPI(M) had been in the forefront of the agitation. Now, the party has made a volte-face after coming to power in the State. The Left party has made it a pet project, citing development,” Mr. Anwar points out.

However GAIL Chief Manager M. Viju says the pipeline is laid in accordance with the Petroleum and Minerals Pipe Line (Acquisition of Right of Users in Land) Act. “The protesters are being fed with misinformation on safety aspects,” he said, adding that the compensation for damaged crops during the execution of the project would be distributed to land owners by April 15. No buildings will be demolished, even though some had been constructed after the notification of 3 (1) and 6 (1) of the Act, he said.