Villagers of Kottaikadu near Neduvasal in the district prevented executives and technicians of a private company who came to inspect an exploratory oil well set up by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.
The employees from KEI-RSOS Maritime Limited, Kakinada, in Andhra Pradesh, had come for a routine inspection on Wednesday.
Suspecting that the company executives had come to execute the exploration project in their village, the villagers surrounded them and objected to their inspection of the oil well in the village. They immediately alerted the police and the revenue officials, seeking their immediate intervention.
Yogeswaran, Tahsildar from Karambakudi, and Abdul Muthalif, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Alangudi, rushed to the spot and took the executives to the office of the Sub-Collector S. P. Amrith in Pudukottai. The villagers dispersed after this.
The executives led by Gopal Vardhan informed the Sub-Collector that they were not aware of the on-going protests launched by the residents of Neduvasal and nearby villages. They had come to Pudukottai district after inspecting a well in Jayamkondam in Ariyalur district. Later, the team left Pudukottai.
Meanwhile, a group of youths and a section of villagers of Neduvasal continued the sit-in agitation in the village for the eighth consecutive day on Wednesday urging the Centre to shelve the hydrocarbon exploration project in the region