BPCL likely to modify LPG pipeline route.

In the face of concerns over its proximity to populated areas and major pilgrim centres in the district, the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is likely to modify the route alignment plan of its proposed LPG pipeline from Kochi to Coimbatore.

'The company will prepare a detailed map marking the survey number of properties through which the proposed pipeline passes. Based on this, we will hold consultations with the local bodies concerned and make slight deviations, if necessary,' said a top company official during a public hearing on the project held at the district headquarters recently. The BPCL also agreed to compensate the landowners as directed by the district administration and publish details of the land survey on the internet.

The announcements came with the Additional District Magistrate B. Ramachandran directing the company to consider alternative routes for laying the 237-km-long pipeline.

Earlier, a presentation by the BPCL said the pipeline was core to the Rs. 20,000-crore production expansion plans of its Kochi refinery, which stipulated an increased LPG output of about 1.17 million metric tonnes a year. On completion, it will minimise the road transportation of gas and connect the company’s bottling plants in Palakkad and Coimbatore, thereby improving the distribution network.

THE HINDU