While Kannur District panchayat president P P Divya blamed then ADM Naveen Babu K for delaying the NoC for the petrol pump, citing a curve on the road, the proceedings issued by him show that this factor was weighed down.
“Matters have been examined in detail. All concerned, except the District Police Chief, recommended the setting up of this petroleum retail outlet. The District Police Chief, cannot recommend this outlet only on the basis of a curve in the road. But there is no provision in Petroleum Rules 2002 to deny the NoC on the ground of a curve of the road. The proposed site was inspected. No adverse factors were noticed. The premise is suitable for installing a petroleum retail outlet as per the Petroleum Rules of 2002; hence, it was decided to grant NoC to this outlet as applied for," according to the proceedings issued by Naveen Babu. The NoC was issued on October 9.
Even while citing Petroleum rules to negate the curve factor, Naveen Babu added one condition to the NoC. "Since the police reported some doubts regarding Stopping Sight Distance, the applicants, before making the petroleum outlet operational, must have obtained the consent of the PWD authorities regarding stopping sight distance and that of the town planner," he added in the note. Stopping sight distance (SSD) is the minimum distance needed for a driver to see ahead to stop the vehicle and avoid collision with an obstacle on the road.
The application for NoC was filed by the Territory Manager (Retail) Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Calicut, on December 2, 2023. NoC was received from all departments concerned except from the District Police Chief, Kannur Rural. DPC, Kannur reported on February 28 that there was a chance of accidents while entering and leaving of the vehicles from the petroleum outlet due to a curve on the road. Naveen Babu had sought the opinion of Kannur Regional Town planner and the official reported on September 30 that the proposed site is on a higher level than the road and there are bushes growing there. Due to this, there is a lack of sight distance, and if the site is rearranged, it can be verified, and sight distance will be available, the RTP reported. The town-planning official told Onmanorama that once the curve was levelled, the sight would be clear, which was reported to the ADM.
In his proceedings, Naveen Babu laid down 22 conditions on which was the consent of PWD. "Before making the petroleum outlet operational, consent of the PWD authorities regarding stopping sight distance and that of the town planner has to be obtained," one of the conditions read.
During the farewell meeting, P P Divya alleged that when she broached the matter of the NoC to the petrol pump, Naveen Babu raised concerns regarding a curve on the road. She then hinted that the ADM had delayed issuing the NoC, and it was issued later, but she knew how the NoC was granted.
