(TH)
With the final clearance from the National Green Tribunal in hand, Indian Oil Corporation is all set to re-start construction activities at its ₹2,200-crore LPG import terminal-cum-pipeline project at Puthuvypeen near Kochi.
Necessary orders in this regard have been issued by the Kerala government and the work is expected to commence in January, probably after the Sabarimala pilgrim season. The NGT judgment has made it amply clear that “there is no environmental pollution in the Puthuvypeen project,” said S Dhanapandian, Deputy General Manager (LPG-project), IOCL. “We are incurring a loss of ₹1 crore per day since February 2017 due to suspension of work at the construction site in the wake of the agitation by the local community against the project,” he said.
IOCL, he said, has adopted global standards on safety measures and one-third of the cost is being spent on safety. The risk analysis study conducted by Projects & Development India Ltd has estimated the risk factor in a million chances per year, Dhanapandian told a visiting group of journalists from Kochi after displaying the safety features adopted at the company’s Ennore LPG terminal project. This terminal has safely handled 72 lakh tonnes of LPG since its commissioning in 2012, he said.
