Oil leak damages paddy field in Tiruvarur
Tiruvarur: A leakage in the oil and natural gas corporation (ONGC) pipeline carrying crude oil caused severe damage to the paddy cultivation on a farm land in Melapanaiyur near Mannargudi in Tiruvarur district on Wednesday.
The crude oil spilled over from the leakage of the ONGC pipeline passing through the farm land of a farmer Sivakumar of Melapanaiyur village on Wednesday. The oil spread across the one acre land where samba paddy crop was being cultivated.
The farmers, famers’ leaders including Raja and CPI MLA of Thiruthuraipoondi constituency K Marimuthu visited the spot.
I have gone for the direct sowing for the Kuruvai cultivation on my one acre of land but the sudden leakage of the crude oil devastated the cultivation. So, ONGC should provide me a compensation of Rs 10lakh,” Sivakumar said.
The local people gathered on the spot and demanded corrective measures from the ONGC to stop the oil from further spreading to other lands. The farmers lamented about such frequent incidents.
ONGC technicians rushed to the spot and plugged the leakage after several hours of effort. Revenue officials organised a meeting with the ONGC and farmers at the spot in the evening. The farmers stood firm on their demand for the compensation. Sources said that ONGC agreed to provide them compensation.
