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TN: ‘DMK Govt Had Earlier Agreed To Coal Bed Methane Extraction In Delta Region's Mannargudi', Says Annamalai While Requesting Centre Not To Go Ahead With Auction Of 3 Coal Blocks In State
Coal block auction in Tamil Nadu
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai along with state BJP in-charge CT Ravi met Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi today (5 April) and requested him to remove three coal blocks in Tamil Nadu from the list of 101 coal blocks that are to be auctioned.
Chief Minister MK Stalin had earlier written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that out of the three blocks to be auctioned, two, i.e. East of Sethiathope and Vadaseri fall under the protected areas under the Tamil Nadu Protected Agriculture Zone Development Act, 2020. The third one, i.e., Michaelpatti is a major paddy growing area.
He had also written that the Centre had not consulted or sought concurrence from the state government before deciding to put up these coal blocks for auction.
In a letter to the minister, Annamalai wrote that the Act was enacted in 2020 during the tenure of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government, after protests by farmers following the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s signing of an MoU with Great Eastern Energy Corporation in 2011 for coal bed methane gas exploration and later extraction in Mannargudi.
Mannargudi is a town in the Tiruvarur district which falls under the protected zone mentioned by the Act.
He added that these areas were explored for coal during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime.
During a debate in the State Assembly in 2019, DMK MLA TRB Rajaa said that they had only agreed on exploration and not extraction. The then minister for Minerals, C Ve Shanmugham had asked why was an MoU signed for exploration if the intention was not to allow extraction.
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