THANJAVUR: Tamil Nadu Science Forum (TNSF) has urged the state Government to constitute an expert committee to inspect the three exploratory wells drilled for shale gas by the ONGC in violation of the ban by the Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Development Act.
Talking to reporters in Thanjavur on Sunday, the state vice-president of the forum and the convenor of its environment sub-committee, V Sethuraman, cited the recently released report of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons- "India's Hydrocarbon Outlook 2024-25-A- report on Exploration and production activities".
The report points out that ONGC had drilled the shale gas exploratory wells in Periyakudi, Tiruvarur and Annavasanallur, all falling under the Protected Agriculture Zone of the Cauvery delta.
As the farmers of delta protested the announcement of shale gas exploration in Kuthalam area, citing the adverse impact of hydrofracking method it entails, on the environment, in 2016 ONGC announced that it will not explore shale gas and coal bed methane (CBM) in delta areas.
However, the report brought to light the clandestine drilling of shale gas exploratory wells by ONGC, Sethuraman pointed out. Hence, he demanded the state Government to set up an expert committee to inspect the three wells.
Moreover, the Coal Bed Methane (CBM) project in the Cauvery delta against which the delta farmers protested vociferously, as it is ecologically destructive, was banned by the state Government in 2015. Subsequently, the then Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, announced in the parliament that the project was dropped.
However, the DGH's 2024-25 report points out that the project is still under arbitration, said Sethuraman.
He further added the report also features exploration in the discovered small fields (DSFs) in Neduvasal, Vadatheru and Karaikal awaiting Petroleum Mining Licence (PML) from the Tamil Nadu Government. They are not included in the terminated or relinquished blocks but under the live contracted areas under the DSF regime, he pointed out.
"Hence, the state Government should ensure the CBM project and the exploration in three sites, which fall under the protected agriculture zone, should be scrapped permanently by the Union Government," Sethuraman stressed.
He also demanded strengthening of the state-level "Empowered committee for the protected agriculture zone in the delta districts" and the district-level "Protected Agriculture zone committees" by nominating farmers representatives. He also demanded that the state Government release the report of the Sultan Ahmed Ismai committee, which looked into the adverse impact of hydrocarbon exploration and mining on groundwater and environment and to implement its recommendations.