The salt unit owners and the Singach villagers are reported to have written to the State Forests and Environment Department, registering their objections against the move to allow BORL to lay the pipeline through that area to carry imported crude oil for the proposed multi-crore joint-venture oil refinery to be set up at Beena in Madhya Pradesh.

The salt manufacturing unit and the villagers fear that the pipeline will not only affect salt manufacturing activity, but also pose a serious threat to the environment. Confirming this, a senior official in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) told Express Newsline on Wednesday that the State Forest and Environment Department had referred the matter to the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB). The department has also written to BORL officials to clarify their stand on the matter.

He pointed out that certain non-governmental organisations as well as people living along the Jamnagar coast had been pressing for a public hearing before any decision on the sub-sea/offshore pipeline was taken by the authorities concerned.

To a query, the official said the BORL was yet to obtain from the Centre three different clearances for its pipeline project, namely under the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ), Forest Conservation Act and the Environmental laws.

Besides, the joint-venture company is yet to obtain clearance from Gujarat under the Wildlife Protection Act. "All these clearances could be granted to the BORL only after conducting a public hearing", explained the official.

He said the GPCB had already written to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, seeking its advice on whether a public hearing into a new pipeline route as suggested by the BORL should be conducted by the GPCB or not. The earlier route passed through the Marine National Park off the Jamnagar coast.

The official, however, felt that the GPCB was armed with all necessary powers to conduct a public hearing into the contentious matter and that the Board need not seek the Centre's advice.