ONGC seeks environment clearance to drill 5 hydrocarbon exploratory wells in the Cuddalore

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has sought permission for drilling exploratory wells at 15 places in Tamil Nadu. The wells include 10 in Ariyalur district and five in Cuddalore district. As per reports, ONGC’s Cauvery Basin, Chennai, has submitted documents to the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) of the Tamil Nadu government for seeking environmental clearance. 

ONGC seeks permission for drilling in Cuddalore district

ONGC has sought permission days after Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Modi urging the government not to allow oil and gas exploration in Cauvery delta districts. According to reports, in the letter written by the ONGC to the Tamil Nadu government, it has sought environmental clearance from the State Environment Impact Assessment.

Poovulagin Nanbargal, an environmental organisation based in Tamil Nadu has shared the picture of the ONGC letter on Twitter. The ONGC in the letter seeks permission for drilling 5 wells in Cuddalore district, 

On June 13, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote to PM Modi seeking immediate directions to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to cancel the bid process for extraction of hydrocarbon in Vadatheru Block of the Cauvery Basin in Pudukkottai district. In the letter, Stalin pointed that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has invited bids for the development of oil and gas fields at Vadatheru in the Cauvery Basin on June 10. The identified area for auction falling in the Cauvery Basin is also in the Protected Agricultural Zone declared by the State government, under Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Development Act, 2020. 

IMAGE: ONGCTwitter/PTI