CHENNAI: PMK founder-president S Ramadoss condemned the Union government for permitting oil and natural gas extraction off the coasts of Chennai and Kanniyakumari.

In a statement, the senior leader said that it is shocking that the central government accorded permission to extract natural gas and oil in three spots and one spot off the Kanyakumari and Chennai coasts, respectively.

"It is condemnable that the permission has been given despite the experts' warning of degradation of marine resources and environment," he said.

The statement added that the permission has been given based on the 9th round of auction under the open bid system of the Directorate of Energy.

"As per the auction, natural gas and oil will be extracted from 32,485.29 sq km in Tamil Nadu. This will cause irreversible damage to the environment. When the bids for the auction were issued in January last year, PMK had expressed severe opposition to the move. I opposed the proposal to extract hydrocarbons from the deep sea of south Tamil Nadu covering 9990.96 sq km in February," he said.

Pointing out the opposition from the fishermen organisations against deep-sea extractions due to its negative impact on fishing, Ramadoss opined that it is unfair to give permissions to extraction projects.

"Considering this, permissions given to ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) should be cancelled. Moreover, the Tamil Nadu government should oppose the projects that would affect marine resources. The state government should coerce the central government to drop the oil and natural gas extraction projects," he urged.