Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to “reconsider the proposal for offshore mining activities in the Gulf of Mannar (located between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka)”.
In the letter dated March 4, Stalin warned that deep sea mining for petroleum and natural gas may cause irreversible damage to marine habitats and degrade the overall health of the ocean, given the fragile ecosystem of these areas and their rich biodiversity.
The letter said the Directorate of Hydrocarbon, under the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, launched OALP-BID Round-X for auctioning petroleum and natural gas blocks without consulting with the government of Tamil Nadu.
“The notification includes 9990.96 sq km under the block name CY-DWHP-2024/1 in the Cauvery Basin, which falls within the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve and is near the Palk Bay and Wadge Bank,” the letter noted.
Stalin wrote that the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, which encompasses the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, was declared rich in biodiversity, encompassing varied ecosystems like coral reefs, sea-grass beds, mangroves, estuaries, mudflats, islands and forests in 1989. According to the Tamil Nadu government, the biosphere reserve has a chain of 21 islands and adjoining coral reeds spread over 560 sq km. These islands support a wide variety of marine fauna, the letter said. Besides, the Tamil Nadu government has notified India’s first Conservation Reserve for the highly endangered Dugong (Sea Cow) in the Palk Bay in September 2021. This covers 448 sq km of coastal waters, the letter said.
“The risks of sediment plumes, toxic waste discharges and habitat destruction cannot be overstated and it will also affect the livelihood of the lakhs of fishermen who depend on the Gulf of Mannar for their sustenance. Any such disruptions caused by mining activities will also make the entire coastal area vulnerable and this has created immense anxiety among the coastal communities,” the letter read.
Had the state government been consulted before notifying this bloc for auction, “We would have explained in detail all the issues highlighted”, Stalin wrote.
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“In this scenario, I strongly urge you to reconsider this decision and delete all the notified biodiversity rich areas from the OALP for deep sea mining. Considering that the future of all these fragile protected ecosystems is at stake, I seek your personal intervention in this critical issue,” Stalin’s letter to the PM read.
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