Farmers owing allegiance to various political parties staged a demonstration in front of the District Collectorate here on Tuesday, to protest against the implementation of the hydrocarbon project in the State. The farmers led by Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam general secretary P. Shanmugam, took out a rally from the head post office to the Collectorate.
Mr. Shanmugam condemned the Centre for awarding contracts for exploration of hydrocarbon in Tamil Nadu. He said that wells were proposed in nearly 56 places across Cuddalore district. Terming the project a threat to the livelihood of farmers, he said that it was being planned on fertile lands. The project would cause irreparable damage to the environment and should hence be immediately shelved, he said.
K.V. Elangeeran, president of Cauvery Delta Farmers Association, alleged that the government was trying to turn the Cauvery delta region, the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu, into a desert by implementing the hydrocarbon project.
A number of villages in Nagapattinam district were bearing the brunt of the hydrocarbon project implemented by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC). The project will be environmentally disastrous and is unwarranted, he said.