Irugur -Devangonthi pipeline project: Don’t hold public hearing during lockdown to acquire land, TN opposition parties tell Bharat Petroleum

CHENNAI: Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu have opposed Bharat Petroleum’s move to hold public hearings during the lockdown to acquire agricultural land in the state to lay oil pipeline for the Irugur-Devanagonthi Pipeline Project.
In a statement, DMK president M K Stalin said the oil company should not hold public hearing meetings to acquire agriculture lands in Salem, Namakka and Krishnagiri districts.He added that the meetings were convened after the state government pressurised farmers to sell their land for expressway.
“Earlier, the AIADMK government, with the help of police, acquired agriculture land in Salem for an eight-lane expressway connecting Chennai and Salem. Now, the government is seeking farmers’ land for laying oil pipelines,” Stalin said.
CPM state secretary K Balakrishnan requested the government to withdraw the move and wrote a letter to chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.
MDMK chief Vaiko also opposed the public hearing that was held in the three districts. “The government knows that not many will participate in the public hearing meetings during lockdown. They have given permission to hold the hearing so that companies can go ahead and acquire land for the pipeline project," Vaiko said.
‘Don’t pressurise farmers’
Stalin asked banks not to pressurise farmers to repay loans. “In Tirupur, a private bank threatened farmers for repaying loans. Farmers from Mannur village protested it.”
He said the Centre had given more time to farmers to repay their loans due to the lockdown.