Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) is neither carrying out nor has any plan to take up exploration of coal-bed methane or shale gas in the Cauvery basin, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has said.
To a question raised in Lok Sabha by Anbumani Ramadoss and B. Senguttuvan and on the protests by farmers and locals against hydrocarbon exploration in Neduvasal and Kadiramangalam villages, Mr. Pradhan maintained that ONGC was not starting any new project in Kadiramangalam.
Under the Discovered Small Field (DSF) policy bid round 2016, the government had approved the award of 31 contract areas, including Neduvasal, to successful bidders for early development of the fields.
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Subsequently, some local people and organisations submitted representations objecting to the award of the Neduvasal DSF expressing apprehensions regarding possible environmental impact, Mr. Pradhan said.
Two petitions have already been filed in this regard in the National Green Tribunal, Southern Zone, Chennai.
For starting any “petroleum activity,” the operator of the field has to obtain requisite mining lease transferred from ONGC through the State government.
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The operator would have to obtain requisite environmental clearances from the State government / and MoEF by following the prescribed process, which would involve public hearing also.