Kohima, Oct 5 (MExn): The residents of Changpang village in Wokha district of Nagaland are suffering due to leakage of crude petroleum oil from an abandoned well of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) for the past few months.
According to a press release issued by a former chairman of the Changpang Village Council Opyuo Odyuo, there had been leakage of huge amount of crude oil at several places.
The villagers were also taking the initiative to prevent accidental fires, which may turn into a towering inferno like Assam’s Dikom fire.
The release said ONGC, when contacted, refused to look into problem on the ground that it was yet to strike a deal with the Nagaland government for extracting crude oil from the oil field.
Even as the petroleum oil seepage is causing environmental hazards, the government has not taken any steps.
Mr Odyuo said there had been crude oil leakage at the Champa Camp in April. But at that time, the leakage was immediately stemmed by the ONGC. However, this time when the ONGC was contacted, it shifted the blame to Nagaland’s Geology and Mining Department.
The oil leakage poses a grave health threat to humans and domestic animals and poses a threat to forests and tree plantations, he said and appealed to the government to take adequate measures.
It may be mentioned here that the NSCN-IM had warned all concerned not to exploit petroleum without the permission of the outfit and declared it as “national wealth”. It also announced severe action against anybody who tried to “violate the order”.
