CHENNAI: The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) is proposing to lay a gas pipeline inside the eco-sensitive zone of Ossudu Bird Sanctuary, designated as one of the important wetlands of Asia by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
It will be an underground Regasified-Liquified Natural Gas (R-LNG) pipeline.
As per the application submitted by IOCL to the National Board for Wildlife on June 4 seeking wildlife clearance, about 38.5 hectares of eco-sensitive zone will be falling under the project area, of which 31 hectares is in Tamil Nadu and rest in Puducherry.
Documents, accessed by The New Indian Express, don't reveal details on how many trees are likely to be felled, but the proposed pipeline will be built just 200 meters away from the protected area.
When contacted, IOCL officials said, "There is no alternate route available to align the pipeline outside the eco-sensitive zone since the anchor customers namely M/s Mohan Breweries and M/s Hindusthan National Glass Ltd are located within this eco-sensitive zone of the Ossudu Bird Sanctuary. The pipeline alignment was selected and finalised with due care avoiding reserve forest, dense habitation etc. During joint inspection with forest officials, if any concerns are raised, minor alignment changes can be made."
Officials also said this pipeline project facilitates transportation of R-LNG in an environmentally friendly, safe, cost-effective and energy-efficient manner and also aims at setting up a national gas grid in the southern part of the country for seamless shifting from liquid to gaseous fuel.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has authorised IOCL for laying, building and operating the 1444.6 km long Ennore-Thiruvallur-Bengaluru- Puducherry-Nagapattinam-Madurai-Thoothukudi underground natural gas pipeline that will evacuate R-LNG from the Ennore import LNG terminal and deliver natural gas to the Industrial anchor customers located across Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
The estimated cost of the project is Rs 6,025 crore and the initial capacity of the pipeline will be 35 MMSCMO (Million Metric Standard Cubic meter per day) which is expandable upto 85 MMSCMO over a period of 25 years.
As part of this project, an underground pipeline will branch from intermediate pigging station (IP102) located at Mandagapattu village in Vikravandi taluk of Villupuram district to Puducherry that will deliver R-LNG to the industrial anchor customers located across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. This pipeline will also feed the City Gas distribution (CGO) networks, which will ultimately be the source of natural gas supply for Piped Natural Gas and Compressed Natural Gas for usage by the public at large.
Despite the benefits it offers, environmentalists say having an underground gas pipeline 200 meters away from an important wetland and major freshwater lake like Ossudu sanctuary can be dangerous in case of an accident or a leak.
M Yuvan of Madras Naturalists Society said, "Ossudu lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes and plays a pivotal role in terms of ensuring water security, especially for Puducherry."