Trichy: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) which has been destroying the environment of delta region and livelihood of the farmers should close down its ongoing exploratory operations and subsequently vacate from the region, said MDMK general secretary Vaiko. He also insisted that the entire delta region should be announced as Special Agriculture Zone, he further stated in a statement released here on Sunday.The entire farming community in delta region already had their fingers crossed as their due share of water from Karnataka had been drastically reduced. Their only option to execute their agriculture operations is groundwater table. However, the exploratory operations executed by ONGC have become a deadlock for farmers, as the groundwater table has drastically gone down to a not-reachable level, Vaiko accused.He stated that the report submitted by the members of the Cauvery Delta Watch which had stated that they had documents obtained from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) under the Right to Information Act (RTI) showed that ONGC’s hydrocarbon extraction wells had been operating without the necessary licence in the state.“It is clear that the ONGC had not got any proper approval from the pollution control board. This makes it clear that ONGC has attempted to render the fertile Cauvery delta region a desert. As per the claim by ONGC, they had 700 oil wells. However, the pollution control board only possessed reports pertaining to 219,” he said.

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