As Centre seals hydrocarbon extraction deals; TN ryots hope promises will be kept

Union Government signs contracts for exploration in 31 small fields, including Neduvasal in TN

Trenchant opposition: People of Vadakadu near Neduvasal in Pudukottai disitrict are determined not to allow hydrocarbon exploration.

Even as the Union government signed contracts for the extraction of hydrocarbon from 31 areas of discovered small fields (DSF) across the country, including the one at Neduvasal village in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu, farmers’ representatives have expressed the hope that the Centre and the State government would hold true to their assurance that the project would not be implemented against people's wishes.

“The contracts signed on Monday were for DSFs across the country. We expect the Centre and the State to stand by the assurances given to us,” said V. Senthil Dass, one of the members of a committee that spearheaded an agitation against the project.

Mr. Dass, who was part of the delegation from Neduvasal that met Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, said that the Minister assured them that the project would not be implemented without people’s consent. The committee would hold consultations and take appropriate decisions if there were attempts to implement the project, he warned.

A. Thirugnanam, another member of the committee, observed that although the proposal was announced earlier, it was only now that the government was signing the contracts. “We believe the assurance given by the Centre. The State government has also supported us. We hope the project will not be implemented here. We will protect our lands by all means,” he said.

Echoing his sentiment, N. Pothiyappan, coordinator of the Anti-hydrocarbon Movement in Vadakadu, said, “We have only withdrawn our struggle temporarily, and if attempts are made to implement it, there will be stiff resistance.”

Centre’s stand

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, in a press release issued after the signing of the contracts, pointed out that the Petroleum Minister, along with Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Pon. Radhakrishnan, had recently met the delegation from Neduvasal to hear their concerns about hydrocarbon exploration, adding that the Ministers assured them that “the work on the field will start when the government of Tamil Nadu addresses the local concerns in consultation with the Central government.”