Oil major uses radio jingle waves to communicate about its project

ONGC also assured the land owner that the rehabilitation of the land to its original condition would be taken up to make sure the land is cultivable. 

The jingles were released on Saturday at Kumbakonam by ONGC Cauvery Asset ED and Asset Manager Kulbir Singh and Rajendran, Basin Manager. 

The jingles say ONGC has been producing crude oil and Natural gas from wells near Kathiramangalam for over eight years with no harmful effect on the ground water level or its quality. The recent water samplings done by the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board also confirmed the quality. 

Exhorting the people of Kathiramangalam not to panic, the jingles say the damaged pipe has been sent to a lab in Mumbai for further investigation to find the reason for the leak and the results are still awaited. The jingles also refer to ‘missing’ signboards above the land through which pipeline passes and says that concrete markers are now being fixed. The villagers have been up in arms against ONGC’s exploration work and a protest by them had turned violent on June 30, leading to use of “minimum force” by police, which was criticised by opposition parties. Also, shops remained shut for several days in the village to express solidarity with the protesting locals. 

On July 17, the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations had urged ONGC to publish a white paper on its ongoing oil exploration operations and future plans in Cauvery delta areas in the district.