Indian State Stops Work on GEECL CBM Project

Indian state of Tamil Nadu has called for suspension of the GEECL’s proposed coal bed methane (CBM) exploration and production project in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts.

State Chief Minister said in a statement that no work would be carried out till the government took a decision on the basis of report to be submitted by the panel of experts in three months, The Hindu newspaper reported.

Farmer groups have registered protest at various places against the proposed coal-bed methane (CBM) project. The state under the orevious government had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GEECL for extracting methane at the Mannargudi CBM block.

Even though GEECL received environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in September 2012, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) was the agency to grant nod for exploratory work and the Board had not yet granted permission for drilling of test wells, The Hindu said.

Explaining the need for the committee, the Chief Minister said if the project were to affect even marginally the Cauvery delta, regarded as Tamil Nadu’s rice bowl, and the farmers, her government would not allow it to be executed, the newspaper reported.