No Corporation nod for GAIL to lay pipes: Mayor

KOCHI: The Kochi Corporation has not given sanction to the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) to  lay pipes through the land the civic body owns at Brahmapuram, Mayor Tony Chammany has said. Meanwhile, Health Standing Committee chairman T K Ashraf clarified that the civic body had not given sanction to the private company to transport water from the Kadambrayar. Both the Mayor and chairman were answering to the allegations raised by the Opposition on these two issues. “The GAIL is planning to lay pipes through the Brahmapuram as part of the city gas network. The GAIL has already transported pipes to Brahmapuram, but has not started the work yet”. “We have already told the officials concerned to decide the actual value of the land that will be needed for the GAIL for laying of pipes. A ten percent of the total value will be calculated as the road cutting charges.  The actual plan was to include the item in the Council meeting agenda after finalising the cutting charges. However, we have issued a ‘stop memo’ to the GAIL to prevent it from starting the work before discussing the issue in the Council,” the Mayor added.Meanwhile, T K Ashraf said that it was the Kerala State Electricity Board and the Water Resources Department that gave sanction to the Philips Carbon Limited to pump water from Kadambrayar. “The district panchayat also has given sanction to the company, “ he added.