Groundswell Against Oil Wells

How one village in Tamil Nadu could be a roadblock to Modi’s dream of self-sufficiency in oil and gas production

- Lakshmi Subramanian/Neduvasal, Pudukkottai

The sun spat fire, creating a mirage on the state highway. The 40km stretch—from the drought-hit city of Pudukkottai to the nondescript village of Neduvasal— had parched fields on both sides. However, as we approached the village, at the tail end of the Cauvery basin, there was greenery in abundance. There was also dissent. Black flags fluttered onsmall houses and speakers blared warnings of reckless oil and gas exploration. The barbs were directed at the Union government. Men and women, young and old, raised their fists and shouted slogans. “This is our motherland,” said Selvamani Ramanathan, a 49-year-old farmer. “We will not allow it to get spoiled. We will fight till our last breath. Let Prime Minister Narendra Modi come and talk to us. We voted for him believing he would do good for us. But he is trying to usurp our livelihood.” The widowed mother owns four acres of cultivable land, in which she has grown about 400 eucalyptus trees, groundnuts and black gram.

Next to her sat Subramanian Govintha Thevar, who is considered a hero by his fellow villagers. He has been fighting Oil and Natural Gas Corporation for the past four years. It all began in 2013, when he saw four officials measuring his land. “I asked them who they were and what they wanted,” he said. “They did not tell me anything and left the place. But, a few months later, another team, accompanied by the village officer and two other state government officers, came to me, saying that an oil company wanted my land to extract kerosene [petroleum]. They asked me to give four acres of my land, gave me a paper and asked me to sign it and mention the survey numbers. I refused, saying this was the only livelihood for me and 10 others in my family.”