Day after site ‘switch’, Nagapattinam up in arms against hydrocarbon extraction plan
NAGAPATTINAM, PUDUKKOTTAI: A day after Puducherry Chief Minitser V Narayanasamy revealed that the site selected for the proposed hydrocarbon extraction project was in Nagapattinam and not Karaikal, members of Anti Methane Group began an indefinite protest at Mayiladuthurai on Wednesday urging the Union government to cancel contracts for methane, shale and hydrocarbon exploration and extraction projects in Tamil Nadu.
Around 300 people gathered in front of the bus stand of Mayiladuthurai and tried to burn Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Union Ministers in effigy. Police intervened and foiled the attempt, besides arresting 35 protesters.
Addressing reporters, Anti Methane Group organiser T Jayaraman alleged that several farm lands in the tail end delta district have turned infertile because of the ongoing oil exploration projects and expressed fears that the region would turn arid if similar projects were implemented.
Referring to Narayanasamy’s statements, Jayaraman demanded that the Tamil Nadu government should clear the air on whether there were any proposals for implementing a hydrocarbon project in Nagapattinam district.
Meanwhile, the Nagapattinam unit of the Communist Party of India announced a protest from April 3 against the hydrocarbon project.
Addressing reporters, CPI district secretary M Selvarasu said that both the district Collector and Tamil Nadu government should immediately reveal details of where the hydrocarbon extraction project would be implemented, adding that the CPI would picket the sites where oil extraction is currently underway in the district.
DMK working president M K Stalin in Pudukkottai assured the residents of Neduvasal and adjoining villages that his party would stand by them if they decided to resume their protest. Stalin gave this assurance when representatives of protesters in Neduvasal called on him here and requested his support to stop the project.
The villagers submitted a petition urging the Leader of Oppostion to exert pressure on the State and Union governments to scrap the project. He charged the State government with failing to protect the interests of farmers.