DHARMAPURI: In the wake of Vizag-Vijayawada-Secunderabad Pipeline (VVSPL) extension project facing severe opposition from locals, the government has ordered heavy police deployment in Sivadi village to ensure security to officials surveying the project.
The expansion project, an initiative of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), is set to extend pipeline from VVSPL Vijayawada at Kondapalli to the proposed Dharmapuri storage terminal at Sivadi.
Ever since the word spread, residents of the village have opposed the project through several representations demanding shifting of the project elsewhere. The locals have said 124 acres of farmland is at stake.
A resident of the village Arjunan said there is heavy deployment of police across the village and survey works are being taken up by HPCL engineers.
"We have already filed more than 92 objections. But officials keep harassing residents and locals stand to lose agricultural lands for the project. For the last two years, we have in vain filed numerous petitions and we have also passed resolutions in grama sabha against the project," he said.
When TNIE spoke to a senior police official on the need for police deployment, the officer said, "In the past, the villagers had gheroaed the officials on multiple occasions. Recently the Block Development Officer, who headed the gram sabha meeting on the Republic Day was also confined by the villagers. It was only after the police intervention that the BDO was released."
Even the revenue department had requested police assistance to perform their duty, the official added.
Nallamapalli Tahsildar Saravanan told TNIE that, "There are plans of setting up a storage terminal, but the people here have a misconception that the terminal is a pumping station. So, they often create issues with officers visiting the site out of fear that the area will be completely affected and become unlivable. The project only stores fuel which will be transported from here to southern districts."
Saravanan said the police deployment was just to ensure safety of HPCL officials.