Expert committee to study impact of hydrocarbon extraction outside delta

Intervening during the debate on the Governor’s address, state industries minister Thangam Thennarasu told the State Assembly that an expert committee would be constituted to study the impact of oil/hydrocarbon exploration/extraction on the ecology and livelihood of farmers in non-delta districts. He also categorically stated that no permission would be given to explore, drill or extract oil/hydrocarbon from Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Ariyalur, Cuddalore and Pudukottai districts.

The expert committee would study the impact of oil/hydrocarbon exploration on ground water, soil and livelihood of farmers on districts other than the aforesaid one’s, Thennarasu said, responding to the request of MLA M H Jawahirullah of Manithaneya Makkal Katchi who sought to stop all oil exploration projects in the delta districts.

The minister also said the committee would elicit public views to assess the impact of such projects on the food security and livelihood of people in the districts. He also added that the state pollution control board has rejected the Environmental Impact Assessment application of ONGC which sought to dig 10 wells in Ariyalur and five in Cuddalore district. The applications were rejected on June 21 for want of information on the socioeconomic impact of the project and deficiency in the applications. The minister also said that Tamil Nadu government would not grant permission to extract methane and shale gas, which affect the ecology and livelihood of farmers, within Tamil Nadu.