Chennai: Leaders including MDMK general secretary Vaiko and PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday came down heavily on the police assault on people protesting against ONGC projects in Kathiramangalam village in Thanjavur. They also demanded the release of nine protesters who were arrested by the police, besides withdrawing the cases against them.
Vaiko urged the state government to express its stand on the people's protests in Kathiramangalam and said it is undemocratic to use the police to oppress the people. If the government felt that it could suppress the protests in an autocratic manner, people's protest would take bigger dimensions, he warned.
He said Tamil Nadu government should have expressed its opposition when the hydro carbon project was signed on March 26 this year but the complacent attitude of the state government is the reason for the centre's actions. He demanded that the state government should announce that it would not implement hydro carbon or shell gas schemes directly or indirectly through ONGC.
Expressing stronger views, Anbumani demanded that ONGC should close the crude oil wells and move out from Kathiramangalam. The police force deployed in the village should move of the village, Anbumani said and warned that he would join the people's struggle if the demand was not met.
The environment in the village had been degraded by the pipelines and the ground water in the area had turned black, bitter and poisonous. Besides the agricultural fields, which supported the livelihood of the people had been affected, he said.
TMC leader G.K. Vasan said the permission for ONGC to extract crude oil must be cancelled by the centre and the state government should take action in this direction.
Thamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi leader T. Velmurugan said lack of transparency in ONGC activities had led to tension in Kathiramangalam and it had been fuelled further by police activities. Cauvery Rights Retrieval Committee co-ordinator P. Maniarasan blamed the district Collector who refused to accept the villagers' demand to meet them and assure that such bursting of crude oil pipelines and flow of oil in agricultural fields would not occur again.
