Amidst widespread protest against the LPG plant at Puthuvype, The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Chennai bench, on Friday dismissed the petition filed against the proposed LPG plant at Puthuvype in Ernakulam. The protests, however, continue.
The petition was filed by KU Radhakrishnan and agitation council convener KS Murali, alleging that the plant was coming up in violation of the environmental clearance (EC) norms.
In its 54 page report, NGT noted that the petition had not alleged that the EC was granted without considering the safety aspects. “It is pertinent to note that no such case was projected by the applicants,” it said, reports TOI.
Meanwhile despite the NGT’s order the residents of Puthuvype have decided to continue with the their protest against the plant. And the convener of the Samara Samithi, K S Murali, said they would appeal against the order of the NGT in the Supreme Court.
M.B. Jayaghosh, chairman of the Samithi, told Deccan Chronicle that, “We will decide on approaching the Supreme Court against the NGT verdict after receiving a copy of the judgment”.
This is the second time the NGT has rejected a petition against the LPG terminal project at Puthuvype. Earlier, the samithi had filed an appeal expressing concern over the potential environmental damage due to the project. Although it filed an appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court, the court declined to allow the same, the report added.
The plant has a projected capacity of 0.6 million metric ton per annum and will be is launched in three phases at a cost of around Rs 2,200 crore. The plan is to transport LPG to Salem via pipelines laid along Thrissur and Palakkad and then to other parts of India.
The protest against the LPG plant had gone violent in June 2017. Many people, including women were injured, when the police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protesters, who tried to enter the terminal area.