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Farmers protest as ONGC begins drilling in Tiruvarur
While the entire Cauvery Delta districts have been declared a Protected Agricultural Zone by the state government, farmers from Tiruvarur approached the District Collector on Tuesday and submitted a petition to initiate steps to prevent the ONGC from the digging wells it has already initiated for a well at Cholanganallur village in the district.
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Thiruchirapalli
The farmers, led by the president of the Coordination Committee of the All Farmers Association, PR Pandian, claimed that the ONGC has reportedly commenced its digging in Cholanganallur village and Periyakudi in Kottur union in Tiruvarur district against the interest of the farmers.
He said that the farmers from the region had earlier organised a series of protests near Kottur police station in July, 2019, and they also staged a waiting protest for a few days demanding the ONGC to withdraw from its activities.
Meanwhile, the Mannargudi RDO organised a peace talk with the farmers, who are involved in the protest and it is learnt that no permission was given by the Pollution Control Board since 2016 for digging extraction wells in anywhere in the Cauvery Delta region.
“Subsequently, the ONGC promised the protesters to withdraw their activities in both Periyakudi and Cholanganallur. However, it has commenced its digging works for hydrocarbon extraction wells at Cholanganallur sparing Periyakudi,” claimed Pandian.
Pandian further said that the state government had declared the Cauvery Delta region, especially the districts like Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Thanjavur, but the ONGC has commenced the works at Cholanganallur in Tiruvarur district.
The farmers submitted the petition with District Collector T Anand and appealed to initiate steps to withdraw the ONGC for the welfare of the farmers and ensure them to take up agricultural activities without any fear.
Vivasayigal Sangam meet
Meanwhile, the state executive committee meeting of the Tamil Nadu Cauvery Vivasayigal Sangam was held in Mannargudi on Tuesday, which decided to organise the second state conference at Mannargudi on March 8 and 9.
The conference would have a detailed discussion on the Protected Agricultural Zone and recommend the state government to include the left-out areas.
The conference would insist on appointing the chairperson for the Cauvery Management Board which has been functioning without a chairperson for more than a year.
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