Puthuvype LPG terminal site in Kerala turns into a fortress

The project posed a ‘grave threat’ to the lives of local residents, says Virudha Janakeeya Prathirodha Samiti

Policemen at the site of the Indian Oil Corporation's (IOC), LPG Terminal project at Puthuvype Island on Saturday.

Police have turned the site of the Indian Oil Corporation's (IOC), LPG Terminal project at Puthuvype Island into a security fortress ahead of LNG Terminal Virudha Janakeeya Samara Samithy's march defyng Section 144 of CrPC which is in force in the area

Over 500 police personnel, including 100 women cops, drawn from numerous police stations across the district have been deployed in the area under six Deputy Superintendent of Police personnel led by G. Poonguzhali, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order). Fort Kochi RDO Snehil Kumar Singh is also present.

The district administration had imposed Section 144 of the CrPC around the project site on Monday ahead of the resumption of work of a cooking gas receiving jetty and storage facilities on Puthuvype Island. The work resumed earlier this week after a gap of about three years when it was stalled in the face of a strong people's movement in June 2017.

"The march is a civil disobedience movement against the arbitrary imposition of Section 144. The march will start from the St:Sebastian's Church premises around 100 metres from the project site," said M.B.Ajayaghosh, president, LNG Terminal Virudha Janakeeya Samara Samithy.

The Samithy has launched an indefinite Satyagraha in front of Elamkunnapuzha panchayat office in protest against the project, which it said posed a grave threat to the lives of local residents in case of an accident. They have demanded that the storage facility be shifted to Ambalamugal, where there is land available.

IOC, however, has consistently dispelled the safety threats saying that latest safety arrangements have been put in place to take care of any emergency situation.