The Cauvery Delta Farmers Federation has condemned the proposed move of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Ltd. to carry out exploration of hydrocarbons in Cuddalore district.
The opposition comes in the wake of Cauvery Basin, ONGC, Chennai, initiating the proposal for obtaining Environmental Clearances (EC) for exploratory drilling of five wells in L-1 PML block in the district.
Federation president K.V. Elangeeran said that farmers would not allow the projects to take off at any cost.
Terming the project a “threat to the livelihood of farmers”, he said that the Union government was trying to turn the Cauvery Delta region, the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu, into a “desert” by implementing the project.
The federation urged the State government to convey its strong opposition by adopting a fresh resolution in the Assembly.
“The resolution should also include previous projects that had been awarded to Vedanta and ONGC in the Delta region.”
“Further, the State government must bring all districts in the Delta region under the ambit of the Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Development Act, 2020,” he said.
Mr. Elangeeran claimed that if the region became barren, the demand for Cauvery water from Karnataka would not arise and this appeared to be the intention of the Centre.
The State government should be cautious and register its protest against the move, he added.
