Farmers protest against GAIL pipeline, hydrocarbon exploration project
Nagapattinam, May 22 (UNI): Farmers and agricultural labourers on Wednesday took out a novel protest by staging a demonstration on the cotton field and holding pesticide bottles to protest against laying of pipeline by the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) at Mukkarumbur village in Mayiladuthurai taluk of Nagapattinam district.
The farmers were strongly objecting laying of pipelines across agricultural fields and hydrocarbon exploration project in the Delta districts.
Condemning the implementation of the projects by the Centre despite stiff resistance from farmers and the public, the protesters threatened to commit suicide by consuming pesticide unless the government shelves these anti-farmer projects.
GAIL is laying the pipeline for carrying gas between the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) field in Madhanam and Memathur in this district.
The farmers backed by Opposition were staging protests in the Cauvery delta region, after the Ministry of Environment and Forest granted the Terms of Reference (ToR) to Vedanta Limited’s Cair Oil and Gas, to carry out Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for drilling a total of 274 offshore and onshore oil and gas exploration wells in the Bay of Bengal, Nagapattinam, Karaikal, Villupuram and Puducherry.
Similarly, the ONGC has been granted ToR for the EIA to carry out exploratory drilling for five wells in Nagapattinam district.
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