Hydrocarbon extraction

Tiruvarur: The farmers' agitations in different parts of Tiruvarur district protesting against the Union Government's fresh nod to extract hydrocarbon in different places in the district, entered the fourth day on Saturday.

A large number of farmers who attended the anti-hydrocarbon meeting held at Rayanallur, decided to intensify their agitation and also to form a struggle committee to continue the agitation across entire Tiruvarur district.

Later all of them got into a nearby cotton field and staged a demonstration against the Union Government's move and appealed to the Tamil Nadu Government not to allow the Centre's move to extract hydrocarbons anywhere in Tamil Nadu particularly in the Cauvery delta region.

Addressing a press conference at Tiruvarur on Friday, Prof. Jayaraman, coordinator of the 'anti-methane project federation' urged the political parties in Tamil Nadu to come forward to fight against the hydrocarbon projects.

“The Union government does not bother about environmental destruction to Tamil Nadu that it gives its nod to Vedanta group and the ONCG for extracting hydrocarbon in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry; if we allow this, not only Tamil Nadu the entire Cauvery basin will be destroyed,”

Prof Jayaraman cautioned. Going beyond electoral promises, political parties should ask its volunteers to fight against the Centre's move, he said. Expressing concern over the Tamil Nadu Government's communication to the Union Government that there was no need to acquire the local people's views for establishing hydrocarbon wells, he called for amending these rules and regulations and respect people's strong feelings against the exploration projects.