(ET)
A group of farmers petitioned the district administration on Monday seeking state government’s intervention to stop Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) from using drone cameras for conducting land survey for its Irugur-Devangonthi Petroleum and Petroleum Product Pipeline (IDPL) and action against the company. Five people from a private consultancy utilized drone cameras to conduct survey in a farm land at Kulathupalayam in Kandiyankoil panchayat on October 14.
“We found that the five were operating drone cameras over a land owned by K Muthuramalingam. It was unacceptable that the drones were utilized without the knowledge of the landowner,” coordinator of Movement of Farmers Affected with IDPL B Jayaprakash said. A farmer said using drone cameras was akin to breaching land rights of the farmers and intruding into others privacy.
A BPCL senior official admitted that the private consultancy has used the drone cameras without the company’s knowledge. “We have advised not to indulge in such act. We have explained about the issue to the district administration.”
