Students take to streets against proposed methane project

COIMBATORE: After farmers and residents, students in the district have taken to the streets to oppose the methane extraction project in the Cauvery delta. Around 50 students, who are part of Students Movement Against Methane Project, held a demonstration near Red Cross building on Wednesday afternoon urging the government not to renew the contract for the project.
They said the state government should not allow the project to go through as it will have an adverse impact on agriculture and groundwater sources around Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Sivaganga. “We have received information that every time they extract methane from the ground, they will release 600 chemicals and use crores of litres of water,” said R Yazhini, a member of the movement. “If so many chemicals are released into the soil, it will destroy agriculture in the area,” she said. “The project will affect rice cultivation and if those chemicals start getting into our food system and air it could cause different diseases,” she said.
Students said they had decided to take to the streets after they heard that there are chances of the methane extraction contract with Great Eastern Energy Corporation being renewed. The project proposed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas involved extraction of methane from the coal-bed. The first contract was signed on July 2010 allowing the company to explore and extract methane. Due to large-scale protests by farmers, the project was put on hold. However, the ministry of environment and forests gave the go-ahead for the project in 2012. The AIADMK state government is urging the Centre to hold the project till a fact-finding team submits a report.