The attempt to drill an additional well by the Oil and National Gas Corporation in a piece of land taken on lease at Alivalam hamlet near Tiruvarur was opposed by the landowners.
The ONGC had taken three acres of agriculture land at Alivalam on lease from Thyagasundaram and Amirthakavi two decades ago to extract oil. Two well were sunk for the purpose and were in operation.
A few days ago, the ONGC brought machines to the site to drill another well in the same field, which was opposed by the landlords citing the depletion of groundwater level in their field and as well as in the surrounding area. They had also made representations to the ONGC to close down the existing two wells and hand over the land back to them.
