Entrepreneur claims to be on the verge of breakdown

Panchayat declines to issue licence to gas agency

Just weeks after an NRI entrepreneur allegedly ended his life at Anthoor after he was reportedly denied licence for his enterprise by the Mattannur municipality, another entrepreneur, this time from Malappuram district, has complained that he has been pushed to the edge by a grama panchayat.

Pratheesh P. of Chelembra panchayat claimed that the vendetta of CPI(M) activists in his locality was behind his woes.

He said Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) had allotted a gas agency to him nine years ago under the Scheduled Caste quota. Despite completing all formalities and obtaining no-objection certificates from the departments concerned, he has not been able to get his enterprise rolling as the Chelembra grama panchayat has not yet issued a licence to him.

His father Ayyappan had raised ₹60 lakh through bank loans and property disposal to set up the agency. He died of a heart attack three months ago. “The gas agency was his dream project. He was heartbroken after all our attempts to get the licence failed,” Pratheesh said here on Friday.

Now, the stumbling block before the family is an injunction from the Kerala High Court based on two petitions filed by families living near the proposed agency. In their petitions, the families had expressed apprehension that the agency would be a gas-filling centre, contrary to Pratheesh’s claim that it was just a storage space. The petitioners had also expressed fear of a possible gas leakage and the ensuing danger to the locality.

“These houses are at least 7 metres away from the store house building. Besides, there is a tall compound wall around the store house. There is no reason for the local people to object,” said Mohammed Ali P., a friend of Pratheesh. The store house also houses the office of the agency, and the family stays in a house just 300 metres away. “If an accident happens, we all will be affected,” Mr. Mohammedali added.

Meanwhile, the banks that loaned money to Pratheesh’s father have started troubling the family over clearing the debt. On the other hand, IOC has served a show-cause notice, asking why the gas agency was not commissioned in nine years and a warning that the Letter of Intent will be cancelled if it was not operational in 15 days.

“If we lose this project, we have no way forward other than suicide,” Pratheesh said.

Meanwhile, the Chelembra grama panchayat claimed to have done everything possible to break the hurdles before the business venture. “We cannot issue a licence when two petitions are pending in court. It will be contempt of court,” said C. Rajesh, president of the panchayat.

He added that the panchayat had played the role of a mediator to ease the fears of the local people but to no avail. “We cannot neglect the sentiments of both the parties. We are actually between the devil and the deep sea,” Rajesh said.

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