The Tamizhaga Cauvery Farmers Association on Thursday (October 2) staged a fast at Mannargudi, urging the DMK government to clarify its policy on extraction of fossil fuel from the delta region.
Talking to the media at the demonstration venue, association general secretary P. R. Pandian outlined the struggles/demonstrations organised by the delta farmers/farmers associations, as and when attempts were made by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation to tap methane/shale gas reserves in the delta districts in the past.
Pointing out that the present government had also withdrawn its announcement of declaring the Nagapattinam area as ‘petro chemical zone’, made by it in 2021, following stiff protests from the delta farming community, Mr. Pandian said that despite all the efforts of the farming community to protect agricultural operations in the delta region, the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on its official website had announced that the inspection exercise to tap methane/shale gas at Mannargudi, Periyakudi, Arivasanallur areas had been completed and kept pending.
Stating that this had caused fear among the farmers that ONGC might achieve its goal of converting the green delta region into a petro chemical extraction zone, he sought a clarification on the issue from the DMK government.
