PUDUKKOTTAI: Tension prevailed at Neduvasal near Alangudi on Thursday when residents staged a protest following information that the Union government had allegedly given the green light for a hydrocarbon exploration and extraction project in the village.
In order to show their opposition to unconfirmed reports about the approval by the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs for extracting hydrocarbons in their village, around 200 residents of Neduvasal assembled near the bus stand in the morning under the leadership of former councillor Dakshinamurthy and raised slogans against the Union government.
Speaking on the occasion, Dakshinamurthy said, “In 2009, ONGC sunk a 4,000-feet well at two places in our village.
This way, they found some natural resources in our land and capped the well. The owner of the land, where the borewell was dug, is receiving Rs 1.5 lakh per year as rent. Now, we have learned that the ONGC has confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons in the village.
We also came to know that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given the go-ahead to a private company to extract hydrocarbon from our village.
We won’t accept the decision to extract natural resources from our soil. If the project is implemented, around one lakh people of Karambakudi, Thiruvarankulam and Peravurani union would lose livelihood. Hence, the district administration should not allow them to extract the natural resources” he urged.
The owner of the land, where the exploratory well, was drilled was not present in the village when Express tried to get his comment on the issue.
However, S Ganesh, Pudukkottai district collector, said, “I have instructed the sub-collector, Pudukkottai, to conduct a field level enquiry with the land owner and villagers. He will submit a detailed report at the earliest, which in turn, it will be sent to State government for further perusal.”