Anti-GAIL protest resumes; government says no more talks
KOZHIKODE: Mukkom is back to square one as protesters against the GAIL pipeline project relaunched their agitation on Thursday and the district administration made their stand tougher saying there won’t be any more discussions with the protesters and the project will be completed.The LDF government and top officers found themselves in an embarrassing situation as the protesters led by Janakeeya Samara Samiti at Mukkom relaunched their agitation totally rejecting the series of parleys and discussions made by the government to amicably settle the issue. “No more discussions with the protesters. The government will take all measures to complete the project,” said a top government officer.
The rebuilt the shed which was dismantled by police after the protest turned violent on November 1. The agitation was temporarily called off after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan convened a high-level meeting on November 11 in which GAIL authorities agreed to double the compensation amount to landowners who give consent to lay the pipeline in their land.
The meeting decided compensation will be fixed after considering the market value of the land which will be calculated as 10 times the fair value of the land. Earlier, the compensation was calculated with the market value of the land as five times the fair value of the land. GAIL also assured that the land used for laying pipelines would be narrowed to two metres for those who own less than 10 cents; their houses would also be protected.
Why relaunch the agitation?
The protesters want the government to consider their prime demand that GAIL realign the path of the pipeline and compensation should be decided as per the Land Acquisition Act of the Union Government.
Janakeeya Samara Samithi chairman Gafoor Kurumaden said, “We will not end our protest till the government accepts our main demand.
Here, the market value of land is around Rs 2 lakh. As per the decision of the Chief Minister’s meeting, the compensation for the land will be around Rs 30,000. It is too less,” he said. “If the compensation is calculated as per Central government’s norms, the landowner will get an amount which is four times of the market value.” Former KPCC president V M Sudheeran and M I Shanavas MP visited Eranhimavu on Thursday to declare their support for the protest.