A day after the AIADMK government passed a Bill in the Assembly seeking to protect agriculture in the Cauvery delta region, MDMK founder Vaiko on Friday askedwhy only a few districts in the region have been covered under the legislation.
Mr. Vaiko, in a statement, referred to a Memorandum of Understanding signed in October 2018 between Vedanta and ONGC for hydrocarbon projects in the Cauvery delta region and asked why the State government has not spelt out its stand on this project.
“What is the use of merely declaring the region a Protected Special Agriculture Zone without cancelling those MoUs,” he asked. The Rajya Sabha MP asked why petroleum, petrochemicals and refineries have not been included in the Bill in the list of non-farming activities that are prohibited in the region.
Referring to the notification issued by the State government in July 2017 to establish a Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) in the State, Mr. Vaiko asked why the Chief Minister had not announced that this initiative would be withdrawn. “Will the Tamil Nadu government answers these pressing questions? The people in the Cauvery delta want to know,” Mr. Vaiko added.
