The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has held a public hearing at Rapar for a 487 kilometre long pipeline that will transport crude oil from Mundra port in Kutch district to a proposed refinery and petrochemical complex of HPCL Rajasthan Refinery in Rajasthan.
“The environmental public hearing was needed in Kutch because the pipeline of the refinery in Rajasthan was passing through the sanctuary. There was no objection against the project,” said KB Chaudhary, a GPCB official, who was part of the hearing.
The pipeline that will pass through the Wild Ass Sanctuary in Gujarat is expected to fulfil the crude oil needs of the refinery which will import through Adani Ports and Special Econ-omic Zone (APSEZ) at Mundra.
“The environmental public hearing was needed in Kutch because the pipeline of the refinery in Rajasthan was passing through the sanctuary. There was no objection against the project,” Chaudhary added.
The HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL) intends to set up a 9 MMTPA (can be expanded to 18 MMTPA in Phase 2) grassroots refinery and petrochemical complex in Barmer district of Rajasthan. The company incorporated in 2013 is a joint venture by the HPCL and the Rajasthan government, where the latter holds 26 percent stake.
Chaudhary concluded: “We did not receive any written objections and nobody raised any points related to the environment. A few representations that came to us were from farmers who sought adequate compensation for usage of their land, compensation for standing crops and levelling of their land after laying of the pipeline.”
For more information visit gpcb.gujarat.gov.in
