TIRUCHI
The Neduvasal East village panchayat in Pudukottai district on Saturday adopted a resolution reiterating the demand for dismantling the exploratory oil wells sunk by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation several years ago in some of the hamlets around the village and restoration of the land to the owners.
Dismantling the wells and return of the land to the owners has been one of the major demands of residents of Neduvasal and surrounding villages where the exploratory wells had been sunk by ONGC over two decades ago. Following a mass protest at Neduvasal against the hydrocarbon exploration project in 2017, the district officials had assured steps would be taken to dismantle the oil wells and restore the lands to the owners, the villagers say.
“They assured that it will be done within six months, but have not done so yet. Some of the participants raised the issue at today’s gram sabha meeting and hence we made a request,” K.Dakshinamurthy, president of the village panchayat, told The Hindu .
None of the exploratory wells is situated in the village panchayat. “They are located in four places around our village. But since the agitation went by the name of Neduvasal protest, we raise the demand,” Mr.Dakshinamurthy said.
