Will not allow auction of coal blocks in Cauvery delta: Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday asserted that it will not allow the Union Coal Ministry to auction three coal/lignite blocks in the state, two of which fall in the fertile Cauvery Delta region a designated protected Agriculture Zone, as farmers are up in arms against the proposed move as they believe it will have adverse effects on agriculture.

Chief Minister M K Stalin told the Assembly that the Tamil Nadu government will “not grant permission” to the Union Government for auctioning the coal/lignite blocks in Michaelpatti in Ariyalur district, Vadaseri in Thanjavur district and Sethiathope in Cuddalore district.

While Michaelpatti is a major paddy growing area, Vadaseri and Sethiathope fall within the Protected Agricultural Zone, the CM said.

“The news came as a shocker to me, just like it was a shock to all of you. I immediately wrote a letter to the Prime Minister registering our protest and cancelling the auction. I want to give an assurance that we will not allow the auction or grant permission to it. I am saying this not just as the Chief Minister, but as someone who hails from the Delta region,” he said.

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Stalin, who spoke in the Assembly after Industries Minister Thangam Thenarasu replied to the calling attention motion moved by MLAs, also said the DMK Parliamentary Party leader T R Baalu has already spoken to Union Coal Minister Prahlad Joshi and conveyed the state government’s opposition to the move.

All political parties, including the BJP, demanded that the auction should be withdrawn. The Chief Minister also said he wrote to the Prime Minister April 4 written to Modi complaining that the Union government didn’t even consult the state government before putting three coal/lignite blocks in the state on auction.

“I emphasised in the letter that under Section 4(1) of the Tamil Nadu Agriculture Zone Development Act, 2020, exploration, drilling and extraction of oil and natural gas including coal-bed methane, shale gas and other similar hydrocarbons cannot be undertaken. We will remain firm in protecting our people and their interests,” Stalin said.

The government feels the food security of the state will be at stake if the coal blocks are auctioned given the fact that agricultural lands are involved. Farmers in the Delta region have also condemned the Coal Ministry’s decision saying it will sound the “death-knell” for agriculture in the region.

In his reply, Thenarasu said the government respects the “emotions and feelings” of the legislators and the farmers who are opposing the move to auction coal blocks in agricultural land. “With Chief Minister in the House, I would like to give an assurance that we will not allow this auction. We are committed to protecting agriculture and farmers in the state,” the minister said.

Quoting Stalin’s letter to Modi, Thenarasu said had the State Government been consulted prior to the issue of the notification, issues regarding the protecting agriculture zone could have been clarified and the “unnecessary disquiet caused by the issue of the notification for auction could have been avoided.”

Though AIADMK opposed auction of the coal blocks, party general secretary and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami utilised the opportunity to take a dig at the ruling DMK. “The CM calls himself a native of the Delta region, but he is the one who signed the Methane extraction MoU. All that he said in the Assembly is drama,” Palaniswami added.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai also met Joshi and demanded that the coal blocks in the Delta region are not put on auction.