The Coordination Committee of All Farmers Associations in Tamil Nadu has dropped its plan to hold an agitation at Mannargudi on August 15, Independence Day.
The decision is a sequel to a peace committee meeting held at the District Collectorate here on Saturday, according to Committee president P. R. Pandian.
Talking to reporters after participating in the meeting, he said it was decided to hold a fast at Mannargudi on August 15 as a mark of protest against Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s attempts to revive defunct oil wells to extract hydrocarbon/methane and from existing oil wells in the delta region.
Collector P. Gayathri Krishnan, who chaired the meeting on Saturday, had directed ONGC to initiate steps for closure of the oil well at Periyakudi near Mannargudi permanently within June next year. The well, which was drilled in 2012, was subsequently closed within 12 months in view of the complications, he added.
She also exhorted ONGC representatives not to take up any work at the existing wells without obtaining the Tamil Nadu government’s permission and not to indulge in any activity in violation of the Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Development Act.
Meanwhile, ONGC, through a press release, has clarified that the domain experts have examined Periyakudi well recently. Armed with the latest technology, they have decided to enter into the well again and isolate the zone to make it completely safe. Also, there is no drilling plan at another well located at Adiyakkamangalam in the district. Higher capacity rigs were moved to the well premises only to execute repairs and workover jobs
