Upping the ante against the hydrocarbon project at Neduvasal in Pudukkottai district, DMK working president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin on Tuesday urged the AIADMK government to pass a resolution in the State Legislative Assembly against the implementation of the project by the Centre.
Mr. Stalin also pressed for withdrawal of cases registered against 10 activists, who have been arrested following their protests against the ONGC project at Kadiramangalam in Thanjavur district.
Soon after the Question Hour in the House, Mr. Stalin raised the issue and recalled the protests organised against the project by the general public, traders and various political parties. “A total of 10 personshave been arrested and cases have been registered against them. I urge the State government to withdraw the cases registered against them,” Mr. Stalin said.
‘Govt. against project’
While he welcomed the State government’s stand against the implementation of the hydrocarbon project at Neduvasal, Mr. Stalin insisted that the Chief Minister should take steps to pass a resolution in the House against the project.
Though the Chief Minister was present in the House, he chose not to speak, while Industries Minister M.C. Sampath reiterated that the State government was against the hydrocarbon project. This [the opposition] was evident from the fact that the clearances sought for the implementation of the project had not been granted, he added.
Reading out from a letter from the Union Petroleum Ministry, in which the Centre had maintained the project would be implemented only if the State government granted its approval, Mr. Sampath said it would not be appropriate to pass a resolution in such a scenario.
However, both the CM and the Industries Minister didn’t respond to DMK’s request to withdraw cases registered against the activists following their protest.
Bail pleas adjourned
Meanwhile, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court adjourned to July 19, the hearing on bail applications preferred by seven people who were among those arrested for allegedly indulging in violent protests following reports of leakage from a pipeline maintained by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at Kadiramangalam in Thanjavur district on June 30.
Justice A.M. Basheer Ahamed adjourned the hearing after recording the submissions of Additional Public Prosecutor A. Ramar that one Inspector of Police and two constables had suffered injuries due to stone-pelting by the protesters, and that all three personnel were still undergoing treatment as in-patients in two different hospitals in Kumbakonam.
On the other hand, the petitioners claimed innocence and accused the police of having indulged in violence. They also claimed that they had merely engaged in peaceful protests with bottles containing muddy brown water.
The Principal District and Sessions Court in Thanjavur on July 5 dismissed similar applications filed by them, seeking bail in the same case.
