The State government should immediately announce the agricultural area in the delta regions as protected agricultural zones and not allow the Centre to permit drilling of hydrocarbon wells against the wishes of farmers, Tamil Maanila Congress president G.K. Vasan has said.
In a statement, Mr. Vasan said that ONGC got permission to drill 489 oil wells in the Cauvery delta region in the past one year alone despite severe protests. On September 25, the ONGC sought permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forest to drill 20 more wells in the Cauvery delta region in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam.
Mr. Vasan said if these wells were allowed to be drilled, it would destroy the agriculture lands, water sources, environment and lead to health problems, and demanded that the State government announce the region as protected agricultural zone.
