CPCL pipeline row: Women’s bid to enter CoP office foiled

A week earlier, the agitators had staged a protest in front of the Secretariat. The women’s grouse is that their “dwelling area is being ruined by CPCL in connivance with local heads and police.” On Tuesday, cops stopped the women at the Commissionerate entrance and allowed two of them to submit their petition. 

“We were asked to visit the Deputy Commissioner’s office to record our protest against the laying of pipelines. We will discuss with the villagers and decide on the next step,” said Priya, one of the agitators. 

This is the second time the agitators had arrived at the Commissionerate in the last two weeks. In the petition, the kuppam people had mentioned that CPCL had paid a group of people from the village, who, in connivance with police and goons, are threatening the villagers against raising their voice. 

“Police are trying to cover it up as a group clash and have arrested four men from each side,” said another woman not wanting to be identified. They had also sought action against cops for using abusive language against women. 

The women who fear about the adverse impact of the project claimed that CPCL did not make any effort to allay the worries of the villagers and instead opted for inhuman ways to vacate the villagers. 

“Tiruvottiyur Kuppam is the largest of the villages through which the pipelines go. Other small villages did not fight against the project, so they want to suppress us through such means," said Priya. 

According to the women, the pipelines are being laid to transfer crude oil from Chennai Port to Ennore. Tiruvottiyur Police Inspector Rajkumar, while dismissing the protest as staged, said that it was nothing more than a group clash and added that they have taken necessary action against both sides.