Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd. (GEECL), whose coal bed methane (CBM) project in Tamil Nadu’s Mannargudi block has stalled because of protests, says it is willing to undergo a technical scrutiny to prove that its operations will not harm the environment.
Speaking to Business Line, Yogendra Kumar Modi, Executive Chairman and Managing Director of GEECL, said: “People are concerned about ground-water depletion, soil and environmental pollution. We request the Government to come and visit our operational project at Raniganj in West Bengal. We have drilled nearly 150 wells and there have been no problems”
Last year, GEECL had received the green signal from the Central Pollution Control Board for the project in Tamil Nadu. Now, it requires the ‘consent to operate’ from the State Government. Until now, the company has not incurred any expenditure on the block and no work has started.
The privately-held firm received its second CBM block (the first is the one in West Bengal) in 2010, through an auction conducted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. GEECL is the first company in India to commercially produce natural gas from coal beds in West Bengal.
A senior Petroleum Ministry official told Business Line that the Petroleum Ministry would consider stepping into the matter only if the explorer did not follow norms or the State prevents exploration without genuine reasons. “Till now, neither the State nor GEECL has approached the Petroleum Ministry on the issue. Pollution control is a State subject,” the official said.
On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said that an expert committee would submit a report in three months. Till that time, the private explorer will not be allowed to conduct any exploration on the Mannargudi block.
Panel view
“We will wait for the expert committee to give its report. It is expected to be favourable. And if they recommend conditions to prevent environmental pollution, we will abide by it,” Modi explained.
Industry watchers also said that public sector explorer ONGC has been drilling in the Cauvery basin for many decades and has not faced any environmental pollution problems. The protestors have alleged that the GEECL project will impact the water table. However, the seams in the Mannargudi block are well below the source of ground water used for irrigation and drinking purposes.
At the same time, it will use technology that separates the gas wells from the ground water table.
However, there is a fear that water produced after drilling wells will have chemicals, creating a huge toxic impact on the environment.
Water produced after CBM drilling has been found to be of good quality at the Raniganj block in West Bengal, and is being used for gardening and cultivation.
Recently, India has witnessed multi-billion dollar investments being scrapped by global giants such as Posco and ArcelorMittal because of protests by local people and inability to acquire land.
The estimated gas-in-place in the Mannargudi block, as per the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), is 0.98 trillion cubic feet. GEECL’s exploration, production, and development programme will entail 50 core wells and 30 pilot production wells in its Mannargudi block.
siddhartha.s@thehindu.co.in