Tiruvarur ryots panic after ONGC oil seeps into farms

Following this, a large number of farmers gathered at the sport staged a protest, which brought the officials to the trouble-hit farmlands.

It is said that ONGC has set up as many as seven extraction wells at Keezha Erukkattur village near Kamalapuram and natural gas and oil were carried through the pipelines along the agricultural lands in the region.

On Saturday morning, crude oil was gushing out on a field owned by Dhanasekaran, who has been cultivating in an area of five acre in the village. As news spread in and around Kamalapuram, several farmers gathered at the spot and ONGC officials were also informed about the leak.

Officials came to the spot and plugged the leakage in the pipeline. But the collection of crude oil, which spilled all over the farm, in barrels continued till late in the evening.

Speaking to the reporters, a senior ONGC official said that the pipeline was five feet beneath the land. It had developed cracks due to aging. “The crack has been closed with a special chemical mix and the leakage has been stopped. So, there is no need to panic anymore,” the officials added.

Claiming that the oil that had seeped into the land was of little quantity, officials allayed fears of damage to the fields. Anyway, the farmer would be given a compensation for the damage, the officials assured.

Though the harvest was completed recently, the land could be used for cultivation at least for the next 10 years due to the oil contamination, feared Dhanasekar and added that ONGC must consider this factor also and provide adequate compensation.

It may be noted that the ONGC pipeline that was laid across Pandavaiyaru was also damaged recently, resulting in a leakage.