The Anti-Methane Project Movement has urged the State Government to prevent Oil and Natural Gas Corporation from establishing a new well for shale gas exploration in the vicinity of a discarded well at Anjaruvarthalai in Tirumanancheri Panchayat in the district.
“The ONGC is making preparations for drilling a new well by hydraulic fracking process under the pretext of carrying out cleaning works in the existing well. Paths were being created for movement of heavy vehicles and a pond has been created for holding the waste water generated in the process of deep drilling,” T. Jayaraman, Chief Coordinator, Anti-Methane Project Movement, said in a petition submitted to the Mayiladuthurai district administration on Friday.
Prof. Jayaraman sought to know on what basis the ONGC was preparing to drill a new well to extract shale gas now that the State Government has made known its clear stand to the Centre that no new exploration activity will be permitted in the Cauvery Basin under the Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Development Act, 2020.
In the backdrop of Tamil Nadu rejecting ONGC’s application recently for establishing 15 hydrocarbon wells in Ariyalur and Cuddalore districts by taking a categoric position that exploration of methane or shale gas will not be permitted, “drilling of any new well was illegal and must be stopped”, Prof. Jayaraman said in his petition, a copy of which was addressed to the Chief Minister’s office as well.
Though the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had taken a policy decision in 2013 that exploration activity in already awarded acreages was permissible, it was irrelevant in Tamil Nadu as the previous as well as the new government in the State have been consistent in their decision not to permit ONGC and Oil India Limited to derive any leverage from the Central Government’s permission in the nine shale blocks, Prof. Jayaraman pointed out.