Aizawl, July 1: The Human Rights Network of Indigenous-Tribal People, Northeast unit, has vehemently opposed the proposed laying of gas pipeline through Mizoram by South Korea?s Daewoo International Company and the Gas Authority of India Ltd, in view of the ecological damage.
Addressing a press conference today, president of the rights panel Rafael Thangmawia said a proposal has been drafted by the two companies whereby a pipeline for the gas to be extracted from the Arakan state in western Myanmar would be laid through the Chakma Autonomous District Council area in south Mizoram.
He said this would cause destruction of the environment in Mizoram. This would also entail giving up land to outsiders without any benefit to the people of the state, he added.
The Korean company had signed an agreement with the Myanmarese military junta in 2000 for the exploration of gas in Myanmar. Daewoo found 1,338.5 billion cubic metres in Myanmar?s Arakan state, which borders Mizoram.
The shortest route to West Bengal, where the gas would be stocked, is being explored by the companies. There are three routes that GAIL is considering. One is an overland route through Arakan and Chin states in Myanmar and through Mizoram and Tripura in India, crossing northern Bangladesh. Another is a direct underwater pipeline via Bangladeshi waters. The third option is an overland route through Bangladesh to West Bengal.
There have been no concrete decisions from GAIL or ONGC, and state authorities have not disclosed whether they have been approached on the issue.
Some environmentalists and human rights activists feel that the recent football tournament organised by GAIL with the state?s leading students? body, the Mizo Zirlai Pawl, was a bribe to win over people in favour of the gas project.
According to the rights panel, if the pipeline was laid through Mizoram and Tripura, it would affect about 4,000 square km of land, as an area of five km on both sides of the pipeline would have to be declared as protected areas.