Under no circumstances will Tamil Nadu allow coal mining in Delta region, declares CM Stalin

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday declared in the Assembly that the State government and especially he, who “hailed from the Delta region”, would, under no circumstances, allow any project that would affect the farmers in that region.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday declared in the Assembly that the State government and especially he, who “hailed from the Delta region”, would, under no circumstances, allow any project that would affect the farmers in that region.

Mr. Stalin was responding to a special call attention motion moved by members of all political parties regarding the recent notification by the Union Ministry of Coal, to auction 101 blocks across the country, which include three in Tamil Nadu. Of the three, East of Sethiathope and Vadaseri fall within the regions protected under the Tamil Nadu Protected Agriculture Zone Development Act, 2020 while Michaelpatti is a major paddy-growing area adjoining a fertile part of the Cauvery delta.

Mr. Stalin, who on Tuesday, had addressed a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing the auction proposal, said he was as shocked as everyone in the Assembly that the decision to auction was taken by the Union Coal Ministry without any communication or consultation with the State government.

The Chief Minister had asked T.R. Baalu, DMK’s parliamentary party leader, to meet Union Coal Minister, Pralhad Joshi, in connection with this. Since the Minister was not in Delhi, Mr. Baalu had spoken to him over the phone. The Minister had assured him that he would treat the letter with importance and asked Mr. Baalu not to worry, Mr Stalin said.

Tamil Nadu Minister for Industries Thangam Thennarasu, who responded to the motion, said the Chief Minister had acted swiftly and shot a letter to the Prime Minister. The DMK MPs were planning to raise the issue in Parliament on Wednesday.

AIADMK MLA R. Kamaraj and BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan, speaking on the motion, raised concerns about how the auction was announced without the knowledge of Tamil Nadu officials at any level. Legislators from all parties spoke, condemning the Union government for the move to auction the coal blocks.