Delta, a hotbed of protests against gas projects

The campaign against the coal bed methane project was launched by organic farming activist Nammalvar in 2010 and taken up by various political leaders and farmers’ unions later. The AIADMK government under former CM J Jayalalithaa had stopped the project after recommendations by an expert technical committee on June 30, 2014. People of Neduvasal in Pudukkottai district have been up in arms against the hydrocarbon extraction project from February 16, 2017. The village has lush green surroundings with mango, jackfruit, orange groves, besides paddy fields. Neduvasal is located in an area rich in groundwater and fertile soil and has a healthy multi-crop farm economy. The project work had not yet commenced, though it had not been dropped either. 

At Kathiramangalam in Thanjavur district, farmers began agitations from June 10 last year when an ONGC pipe leaked gas into agricultural fields and spoiled the land and crops. A large number of policemen were deployed in the area and 10 environmental activists, involved in the agitations, were arrested. The protests are continuing since the ONGC has refused to close its oil wells in the region.