PUDUKKOTTAI: Residents of Neduvasal rejoiced and set off crackers amid buzz in Tamil media on GEM Laboratories’ exit from the hydrocarbon extraction project in the village on Thursday. However, villagers said this was a partial victory and that they would continue with their protest until the Union and State governments announce the total scrapping of the project.
In the wake of unrelenting protests at Neduvasal and the case against the project in the National Green tribunal (NGT), GEM Labs, which had bagged the contract, said it could not start operations though the company won the block for hydrocarbon extraction a year ago. In light of this, the company has reportedly requested the Union government to allot an alternative site.
Actor Vishal tweeted the news and said he was extremely delighted. Village residents were overjoyed on getting the news. The large-scale protest at Neduvasal began in February 2017, soon after the jallikattu protest. The protest continued for 22 days. Based on the assurance from the State government the project would be dropped, the protest was withdrawn. The second phase of protests started in March and lasted for as many as 172 days.
On Thursday morning, people gathered at the protest site and burst crackers. Thanga Kannan, a protester, said “If one company has withdrawn from the project, another may take it up. So, a complete victory would be when the governments announce hydrocarbon projects are scrapped.”
In all grama sabha meetings held in the past one year, the village panchayat passed resolutions against the project. K Balamurugan, a youth of the village, said “We passed a resolution in the grama sabha meeting held on May 1. Despite this, the government is not coming forward to drop the project altogether.”
Member of the protest committee A T Palanivel said “About 200 youths from this village work in oilfields in the Gulf countries. They experienced the adverse effects of such projects and enlightened us. Since then, the people are united and opposing the project. Due to our protest, a private company wants to move away from the field. But till the government brings curtains down on the project, we will continue to protest.”