THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE A.GOPAL REDDY AND THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C.BHANU WRIT PETITION No. 23888 of 2009 ORDER: (per the Hon’ble Sri Justice A.Gopal Reddy) 1. The petitioner, who is former Member of Parliament, filed this Writ Petition in the form of Public Interest Litigation challenging the action of the third respondent in proposing to lay petroleum product pipeline in the vicinity of Gangavaram village and seeking to issue an appropriate writ of mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in proposing to lay the pipeline as illegal, arbitrary, endangering human life and violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and consequently direct the respondents to forbear from laying the proposed pipeline in the vicinity of Gangavaram village, on the ground that basic safety norms have not been followed to safeguard lives of the villagers in the event any untoward incident happens. 2. A Notification dated 10.04.1997 was published in the Gazette of India dated 30.06.2007 seeking to acquire the right of user in the lands for laying pipeline for transportation of petroleum products from Chennai to Bangalore, and pursuant to the said Notification, the present pipeline is being laid by the third respondent within 40 meters of human settlements in the village Gangavaram. The products which are sought to be transported through the proposed pipeline are highly inflammable and hazardous in nature and could lead to a calamity in the event of any unforeseen disaster. In the latest Notification S.O.1533, dated 14.09.2006 issued by the first respondent, Environmental Impact Assessment Report has been mandated for environmental clearance for laying of pipelines, and the public hearing panel shall be presided over by the District Magistrate or his representative not below the rank of Additional District Magistrate. As the application of the third respondent corporation for environmental clearance was pending as on the date of said notification, the procedure under the new Notification ought to have been followed, and it would vitiate the entire proceedings. In fact, the public hearing objections regarding the proximity of the proposed pipeline to Gangavaram village and the surrounding hamlets were raised by the participants, but the third respondent corporation instead of considering them, felt it suited to realign the pipeline from the eastern side of the village to the more densely populated western side. Technical committees were yet to be appointed. As there are no guidelines regulating laying of petroleum product pipelines, the third respondent is left to adopt its own mechanism. It is evident from the report of the concerned Mandal Revenue Officer, dated 19.12.2007, the proposed pipeline will pass within 40 meters from human settlements. The petroleum pipelines have a dubious maintenance record all over the world, and the executive in India seems to have given a blind eye to pipeline disasters around the world. In the mandatory public hearing held on 17.9.2006, the respondents failed to address the concerns raised by the residents of Gannavaram and they were not appraised of the dangers involved in petroleum pipelines and the measures being taken to curtail such incidents. The third respondent corporation deliberately and with a mala fide intention to sub-serve its purpose, down played the entire issue and conveniently addressed only the question relating to land acquisition and noting else. The respondent corporation has a duty cast on it to conduct camps to up rise the local community about the hazards involved in petroleum products transportation, and the inhabitants of the village are not aware of the fallouts of the project of such kind. There is no disaster management mechanism in place. Though the issue has been represented before the higher officials and politicians, no appropriate action has been initiated. Hence, this Writ Petition. 3. The third respondent filed counter affidavit stating that 16 villagers of Gannavaram village have already filed a Writ Petition No.10369 of 2008 challenging the alignment of the pipeline, and the said Writ Petition is pending before this Hon’ble Court and no interim orders have been passed therein. In para 8 of the counter affidavit, it is specifically stated that the International Standard for design and laying pipeline is ASME 31.4 (American Society of Mechanical Engineers 31.4), and that the third respondent corporation follows the said standard. Further, the Oil Industry Safety Directorate is the apex body in India for oil pipeline safety standards and the standard set up by the Oil Industry Safety Directorate for design and laying of pipeline is Code 141. Further, the International Safety Code and the American Petroleum Institute Code 1105, 1104 and 1102 also prescribe the safety standards. This respondent complied with all these safety regulations in the course of design and laying the pipelines, and has been laying pipeline in India since 1964 and laid more than 10,000 KMs of pipelines and the same are being used and operated by this respondent, and till date, not even a single incident of breach of safety regulations or mishap has been noticed. This respondent also uses Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system while operating pipelines, as per the regulations of the Ministry of Environment, and there is no laxity on the part of this respondent in that regard. The pipeline between Chennai and Bangalore is for a total length of 290 KMs and this respondent has already expended about 250 crores for lying the pipeline except for a length of 6 KMs, and the same had to be inaugurated and commissioned by December, 2009. There is no public interest involved in this Writ Petition and it is a motivated one, and hence, it is prayed to dismiss the Writ Petition. 4. The learned counsel for the third respondent stated that as per Schedule fixed, the pipeline has already been laid and commissioned in December, 2009 and the same is in operation by following safety standards. Having regard to the fact that since the last 46 years, there is no untoward incident or mishap occurred due to breach of safety regulation in laying of the pipeline as apprehended by the petitioner. Therefore, having regard to the facts and circumstances, there is no point to be adjudicated in this Writ Petition. However, the third respondent is directed to take all safety measures as per the environmental clearance granted by the Government of India in its letter in File No.J-11011/334/2006-IA-II (I), dated 13.8.2007 and comply with the safety conditions mentioned therein and as per Rules, during operations of the pipeline. 5. With the above direction, the Writ Petition is dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs. __________________ A.GOPAL REDDY, J _____________ K.C.BHANU, J DATED: 03-08-2010 DRK THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE A.GOPAL REDDY AND THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C.BHANU WRIT PETITION No. 23888 OF 2009 DATED: 03-08-2010 Between: N.Ramakrishna Reddy …Petitioner And Union of India, rep. by its Under Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, New Delhi & others …Respondents THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE A.GOPAL REDDY AND THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C.BHANU WRIT PETITION No. 23888 of 2009 03.08.2010