JOIN USONGC bid to explore for hydrocarbons in Cauvery Delta faces stiff opposition
Farmers in the fertile Cauvery Delta region of Tamil Nadu are up in arms yet again against the ONGC’s bid to explore for hydrocarbons in agriculture fields in Pudukkottai district. Not just farmers, the state government is also opposed to the exploration for hydrocarbons in the region, which was declared as a Protected Agricultural Zone by the previous AIADMK dispensation.
Even before the dust settles over the issue, the ONGC has sought permission from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) for hydrocarbon exploration in Ariyalur district in central Tamil Nadu, prompting vociferous protests from activists.
Protests broke out in Vadatheru in Pudukkottai on June 13, days after the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas invited bids for the development of oil and gas fields with farmers making it clear they will not part with their land.
The DMK, which had been siding with the farmers for the past few years, stepped quickly with Chief Minister M K Stalin dashing off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel the bidding process. He also reminded Modi that the Cauvery Delta region was a protected zone and categorically said the state will not allow such projects.
Stalin is expected to take up the issue with Modi when he meets him in New Delhi on June 17. Farmers in the region feel that hydrocarbon exploration activities would bring irreparable damage to their fertile lands and groundwater.
“We will never allow any exploration activity in the Delta region. Such activities would destroy our fertile lands forever and also spoil the groundwater. The agencies lie when they say there won’t be any damage to the land. We will not part with our lands,” P R Pandian, coordinator of Tamil Nadu All Farmers' Association, told DH.
The Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Development Act, 2020 prohibits any new exploration, drilling and extraction of Oil and Natural Gas and other similar hydrocarbons from the Protected Agricultural Zone.
G Sundararajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal, an NGO fighting for protection of the environment, told DH that the move by ONGC to explore for hydrocarbons is a blatant violation. “The state government declared Cauvery Delta as a protected zone and how can the Union Government announce a new project which is in blatant violation of a decision taken by a democratically-elected government,” he said.
Sundararajan also questioned the ONGC’s move to seek permission from SEIAA for exploration activities in Ariyalur district, after Stalin’s statement that no such project will be allowed in Tamil Nadu.