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Fears over Mangalore-Bangalore pipeline -- Petronet-farmers interaction yields little result

Our Bureau

MANGALORE, Sept. 18

THE intricacies of the conflict between grass-root fears on the one hand and mega plans on the other were laid bare once again in what was, symbolically at least, an interface between two different world views with very little in common.

In what proved to be yet another exercise to push through the Rs 667-crore 364-km Mangalore-Bangalore petroleum pipeline project, a meeting was conducted here on Monday - to facilitate a `face-to-face' interaction between the officials representing Petro net MHB Ltd and the farmers, who remain apprehensive of the impact the project would have on their agricultural land.

Organised by the Minister-in-Charge of the Dakshina Kannada district, Mr B. Ramanatha Rai, in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner of the district and representatives of Petronet - the company implementing the project - the meeting was attended by mem bers of the zilla panchayat and taluk panchayat apart from farmers who feared that they would be adversely affected by the pipeline.

The Mangalore-Bangalore pipeline project is one of the three petro-product pipeline projects being implemented by Petronet in South India, the other two being the Kochi-Coimbatore pipeline and the Chennai-Tiruchi-Madurai pipeline.

The Mangalore-Bangalore pipeline would pass through 238 villages in 17 taluks of the districts of Dakshina Kannada, Chikmagalur, Hassan, Mandya, Tumkur, Bangalore urban and Bangalore rural along a length of 364 km before terminating at Devana Gundi in Ba ngalore.

The pipeline has ostensibly been `necessitated' by the increase in the refining capacity of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) from three to nine million tonnes per annum and, according to Petronet officials, a `six to seven per cent growth in the demand of petroleum products.'

The pipeline would have a final capacity of 8.5 million tonnes per annum by 2013-2014 (5.6 mtpa by 2006-2007) and would have a `tap-off point' at Hassan from where petro-products could be transported to neighbouring areas. The pipeline would be used to t ransport motor spirit, superior quality kerosene, aviation turbine fuel, high speed diesel and naphtha from MRPL to Bangalore.

However, some land would have to be `temporarily acquired' for the purpose under the Petroleum and Minerals Pipeline (Right of User in Land) Act of 1962.

According to officials, the land would not be acquired permanently and would be returned to the owners `in its original condition' after completion of the project and `due compensation' would be given to those who temporarily lose control over their land - 10 per cent of the value of the land `temporarily' acquired.

Although officials have been claiming that there would be `no change in land use patterns due to the project,' they themselves admit that land-owners would subsequently not be permitted to undertake any construction on this land and also not be permitted to either plant trees with roots that go deep into the soil or dig wells in the area.

In the 29 villages through which the pipeline would pass in the Dakshina Kannada district, 18 gram panchayats have, according to the HPCL Pipeline Virodhi Samiti, resolved to seek `justice' from the Karnataka High Court.

According to Petronet officials and the District Land Acquisition officer, 134.97 acres of land have already been `temporarily' acquired under the Right of User Act and notifications issued. Preliminary notifications have already been issued for the `tem porary' acquisition of 304.54 acres.

The proposed pipeline had been a source of controversy in this region with environmentalist groups and farmers' organisations demanding that the pipeline be laid next to the railway track in order to minimise the use of private agricultural land for the project.

There has also been a consistent demand that petro-products be transported by rail once the gauge conversion work on the Hassan-Mangalore line is completed - a demand that was reiterated at Monday's meeting.

Moreover, the HPCL Pipeline Virodhi Samiti has also been consistently arguing that a pipeline through the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats would have a disastrous impact on the environment.

The environmentalists also keep brandishing a letter written by the Director of Traffic Transportation (POL) of the Railways to the Director (Marketing) of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) on March 3, 1999, expressing the Railways' willingness to transport petroleum products from Mangalore to Bangalore.

Petronet officials, on their part, insist that a pipeline is the `safest' mode of transporting petroleum products apart from being the most `economically viable' and `eco-friendly' option.

According to them, 32 trains up and another 32 trains down with 40 wagons each would have to ply between Mangalore and Bangalore everyday if all the petro-products produced by MRPL were to be transported to Bangalore by rail alone. And, moreover, the dec ision to lay the pipeline was taken with the knowledge of the Railway Board which, according to Petronet, has expressed its acquiescence for the pipeline project despite claims to the contrary.