Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan along with Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Radhakrishnan met with a delegation from Neduvasal village, Tamil Nadu today.
"All the three ministers assured the delegation that government will not carry out any E&P activities without addressing all concerns and taking onboard the local villagers, the state government and all other relevant stakeholders," an official statement said here.
At the meeting, it was decided that dialogue would continue with local people with the involvement of officials from Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Directorate General Hydrocarbons, ONGC, the state government and local authorities to dispel apprehensions of the local people.
"Detailed deliberations were held on the likely impact of E&P activities on agriculture, ground water, local habitation and environment," the statement said.
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Referring to the concerns about the impact of the project, it was explained at the meeting that the extraction of oil and gas from sub-surface is a well-established practice and the drilling and production processes require very limited surface area and would not affect agriculture.
"Further, it was informed that exploration and production (E&P) activity is carried out only after an independent Environment Impact Assessment. It was also clarified that the oil and gas extraction carried out from deep-earth does not affect ground water aquifers, which are located at much shallower levels," it said.
"Other concerns about adverse environmental impact on nearby areas are misplaced as all such operations require prior pollution control and environmental clearances. Further, public hearings are also an integral part of the process of obtaining the clearances," it added.
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