COIMBATORE: The members of the Tamil Nadu Farmers Protection Association have decided to stop oil pipeline works carried out by BPCL at Sulur on Monday. Members took a decision at the marriage hall in Sulur on Saturday, where the police kept them after arrest for staging a road roko since Friday night, by refusing to leave the hall.
Eesan Murugasamy, founder president of the association who led the protest, said, “We had requested the district administration to stop works for one more week in order to to meet the industry minister and industry secretary in Chennai, however, our demand was not accepted. Therefore, we have decided to stop works on Monday.”
According to Eesan, their demand is to lay the pipeline along the roadside and not through the agricultural land. The pipeline is being laid for 340 km up to Bengaluru from Coimbatore. Out of 340 km, the pipeline will be laid for 270 km along the roadside. However, the remaining 70 km pipeline from Irugur (Coimbatore) to Muthur (Tirupur district) is planned to be laid within agricultural land.
“The company is again laying the pipeline, similar to the works carried out on agricultural lands between Sulur and Karur 30 years ago. The company claims they are using the area covered by existing lines to lay the new pipeline. However, we will not allow this, and the existing lines too will be shifted to the roadside, as we face setbacks in land valuation. Government agencies refuse to provide loans and land gets fragmented, affecting cultivation,” said Eesan.