The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Locals in coastal hamlets wary of oil exploration at public hearing

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Tuesday, Sep 30, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Locals in coastal hamlets wary of oil exploration at public hearing

Staff Reporter

Company officials allay fears of pollution hazards and seek community support

– Photo: T VIJAYA KUMAR

Emotive issue: Ch. Venugopala Rao of Rythu Sangham Samakhya makes a point at the public hearing on the onshore exploratory drilling by Cairn Energy India Limited held at Repalle on Monday.

REPALLE (GUNTUR DT): Members of civil societies, environmental groups and farmer bodies have expressed concern over the potential environmental hazards due to the proposed on shore drilling of exploratory wells in 20 coastal mandals in Guntur and Krishna districts by Cairn Energy India Limited.

At an Environmental Public Hearing conducted here on Monday, by the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Guntur region at the MCA Kalyana Mandapam. District Revenue Officer G. Joshi Babu, APPCB Environmental Engineer D. Ravindra Babu and Cairn Energy Ltd General Manager (Environment) K. Jai Shankar were present.

The drilling of exploratory wells is proposed to take place at 15 KG-ONN 2003/1 blocks covering 11 revenue mandals in Guntur district and nine mandals in Krishna district. Cairn was awarded the right to identify the presence of hydrocarbons through exploratory drilling. The company would also delineate and quantify hydrocarbons pools.

Compensation

Seeking clarity on the compensation policy, Kondapalli Venkateswara Rao of Repalle Chaitanya Vedika said that insurance coverage be provided to local people employed in the exploratory work. Puttagunta Adinarayana expressed his concern about the recycling of waste water.

K. Babu Rao of Hyderabad based Sustira Abhivrudhi Vedika found fault with the assessment report of the consultants roped in by the company and said that the report smacks of plagiarism and said that the report made no mention of local features. He also expressed his concern over the harmful emission of gases and the environmental effect it has on the residents. A.V. Appa Rao of Vimanayana Research Foundation suspected that the drilling might pose a threat to the Krishna Sanctuary.

Replying to their concerns, Cairn General Manager Jai Shankar said that the company usually signs a lease agreement with the land owner for a year, though the exploration would be carried out only for 45-60 days. The company would restore the fertility of the land to the fullest extent possible and return it back to the farmer. The company follows a generous compensation policy and farmers would be paid according to the existing market value.

On concerns about the environmental hazards, he ruled out emission of harmful gases in the exploratory phase and added that the Krishna sanctuary had been kept out of the proposed blocks. He finally sought the participation of the community and cited the successful partnership in Rajasthan where Cairn had taken up community developmental works worth $ 3.5 million.

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