Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SM)

Mangalore, June 29: The SEZ Impact Assessment Committee has expressed concerns over the setting up of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and its new component Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) in the district.

The committee had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the threats the region would face due to the storage of chemicals and the resultant health hazards, said convener of the SEZ Impact Committee Dinesh Pai Kateel addressing a press conference here on Thursday June 28.

In the letter the committee requested the PM to cancel all plans to set up SEZ or the PCPIR here. The letter stated that the ONGC had recommended the use of existing infrastructure on the basis of mixed bonding since Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals (MRPL) has developed infrastructure such as tanks and pipelines.

The Committee, in the letter, also expressed its concern over the issue of supply of water in case SEZ and PCPIR are implemented in the city.