Proceedings of Public Hearing At Parbung (Exploratory Drilling & Allied Activities)

Proceedings/minutes Of The Public Hearing For The Proposed Exploratory Drilling And Allied Activities In Block A-ONN 2009/1 Covering Churachandpur District; Manipur

Date:- 8th August, 2012  Venue:-  Parbung Community Hall, Time:- 12.30pm

List of Panel Members present in the Public Hearing is given below:-

1. Ms Jacintha Lazarus IAS (Deputy Commissioner, Churachandpur):Chairperson
2. Shri H.D. Gangte (Divisional Forest Officer, Churachandpur, Manipur):Member
3. Shri N. Minaketan Singh (Senior Environmental Engineer, Manipur Pollution Control Board: Member
4. Shri Apoorva Ranjan (Vice- President Projects Jubilant Oil & Gas Pvt. Ltd., NOIDA (UP)): Member
5. Shri K. Jagadishwor Singh IFS (Member Secretary, Manipur Pollution Control Board): Convener
6. Shri W. Ibohal Singh (SDO (Parbung), Churachandpur, Manipur):Special Invitee

At the outset Shri W. Roshan Singh, AEE/MPCB requested the panel members to take their respective seats on the dais. He then requested Shri K. Jagadishwor Singh, IFS, Member Secretary, Manipur Pollution Control Board to convene the Public Hearing.

Shri K. Jagadishwor Singh, Member Secretary, Manipur Pollution Control Board welcomed all the panel members and the public present at the Parbung Community Hall for the Public Hearing. He expressed his gratitude to the public for attending the Public Hearing. He informed the public that the Public Hearing is started at 12.30 hrs respecting the local customary traditions/practices. He further said that it is the mandatory requirement for the MPCB to conduct the Public Hearing for the proposed Exploratory Drilling and Allied Activities by the Jubilant Oil and Gas Pvt. Ltd., NOIDA (UP) to ascertain the concerns, views, etc of the local people likely to be affected by the exploratory drilling and allied activities. He also informed the gathering that wide publicity was given for the Public Hearing by inserting notification for 10 consecutive days in local as well as national dailies. The Executive Summary of the draft EIA reports are available in English, Manipuri, Rongmei, Hmar and Paite languages and they can obtain copies of the report. The reports can also be downloaded from the website www.pcbmanipur.org and www.jubilantenergy.com. He also read out the list of wells and their locations falling only in Churachandpur district that are to be covered under the exploratory activities.

The Member Secretary requested the gathering to express their views, concerns, suggestions, etc. regarding the proposed activities so that the same may be forwarded for consideration by the concerned authority of the government.  He then asked the project proponent to give a power point presentation on the proposed activity.

Sl. No.	Name of the village	Well	Sub-Division	District
1	Kamkeilon, Aina, Santing	Well No 1	Churachandpur North	Churachandpur
2	Buolmuol, Muikot	Well No 2	Thanlon	Churachandpur
3	Dailon	Well No. 3	Thanlon	Churachandpur
4	Patpuihmun	Well No. 6	Tipaimukh	Churachandpur
5	Talan	Well No. 7	Thanlon	Churachandpur
6	Tinsuong, Damdei	Well No 8	Tipaimukh	Churachandpur
7	Talan	Well No.9	Thanlon	Churachandpur
8	Parvachawm	Well No 10	Tipaimukh	Churachandpur
9	Parvachawm	Well No 11	Tipaimukh	Churachandpur
10	Tithu	Well No 12	Tipaimukh	Churachandpur
11	Tithu, Sartuinek	Well No 13	Tipaimukh	Churachandpur
12	Parbung, Lungthulien	Well No 14	Tipaimukh	Churachandpur
13	Sipuikon/Tipaimukh	Well No. 15	Tipaimukh	Churachandpur
14	Lower Kharkhuplien	Well No 16	Tipaimukh	Churachandpur
15	Kangreng	Well No 17	Tipaimukh	Churachandpur

Shri Ajay Bisen on behalf of Jubilant Oil and Gas Pvt. Ltd., NOIDA, made a power point presentation in English about the salient features of the proposed project. This presentation was also explained in Hmar by Shri Sangremsiama, SDC (Parbung). The following salient features were covered in the presentation:-

•    Brief Information about Jubilant Oil & Gas Pvt Ltd.
•    Overview of hydrocarbon exploration and present reserves in the country and North East area
•    Block details of AA-ONN-2009/1
•    Features of typical drilling activities
•    Details of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Study done
•    Possible source of pollution and control measures
•    Proposed Environmental Management Plan (EMP)
•    Social activities done and proposed in the block

[A hard copy of the presentation is enclosed as Annexure-I.]

After the presentation, the convener of the Public Hearing requested the gathering to give their views and concerns regarding the proposed Exploratory Drilling and allied activities.

The Deputy Commissioner Churachandpur appealed to the public to maintain a peaceful atmosphere during the Public Hearing. She informed the public that the proposed activity is only an exploratory activity. There will be another public hearing if the project proponents decide to extract oil or gas from a particular region on commercial basis.

Mr. Lalvulthang of Parbung village, Mr. Remruotlien of Parbung village, Mr. Lalthangsang Songate of Lungthulien village, Mr. Lalmakthang of Parbung village, Mr. L Tlanthang of Parbung village, Mr Slsinga of Parbung village, Mr. John Pulante and Lalchunghungn of Senvon village raised questions and expressed their concerns during the Public hearing.

Following questions/queries and answers were discussed:

Objections, Concerns and Queries raised by people:

1. Prior informed consent of the people was not taken before the seismic activity was started and in future no activity should be carried out without consent of local authorities.
2. Benefits offered to the local people by the proposed activity.
3. Up-liftment of the local people and concern for outsiders coming to the work place.
4. Effect on wildlife and organisms by the exploratory drilling and allied activities.
5.Local people not getting the benefits and compensation offered for the damage caused due to survey works
6. Harmful effects due to radiation, pollution, etc caused by the exploratory activity
7. Loss of fertility of land due to the proposed activity.
8. Authenticity of the land lease agreement signed by the company
9. Dangerous condition for the workforce during the seismic survey
10. Suggestion on more public awareness through NGOs working in this area
11. The issue of land ownership and request for recognition of local villages and the village authorities as the rightful body to decide on the fate of their people

Replies/clarifications made by DC:

1. DC clarified that JOGPL has not purchased land but taken it on lease and they have signed agreement with village authority duly authenticated by district administration. They shall follow the same practice in future and district administration shall monitor  them.
2. On a question about royalty DC replied that JOGPL is yet to ascertain the existence of oil or gas. Once they start producing oil or gas, district administration will take this matter to state government in consultation with district council. Royalty is the state level matter and Jubilant has no role to play.
3. On a question of company not seeking prior permission from people or giving poor compensation during seismic survey, DC assured to look into all matters in consultation with concerned village authorities, SDOs and discuss them separately.
4. DC mentioned that this PH is not the last consultation with people. We can have several public consultations in future.
5. Regarding authenticity of the lease agreement, there will be field verification.
6. The company will contact the village authority for recruiting local workforce.

Replies/clarification made by JOGPL:

1. The Company is in investment mode for the proposed exploratory activity and is yet to ascertain the presence of oil or gas and generate revenue.

2. The Company will decide on long term contracts during production stage. At present the company is focusing on exploratory drilling which is for very limited duration. For production, the company will conduct another round of Public Hearing.

3. Drilling requires very limited land of 4-5 ha (effective area) and has miniscule environmental impacts due to adopting international level control measures. If people do not want to share large amount of their land, the land can be split in two parts and make separate lease agreements.

4. The company intends to drill only 2-4 exploratory wells in coming approx 2-4 years to understand the underground geology. However, in case of discovery of oil or gas, the company may have to drill some appraisal wells for which it will seek permission from legitimate land owners/community and proceed.

5. As per current government norms the royalty on gas is 10% and on oil is 12.5 % of production revenues, which goes to the state government.

6. Worldwide, there is no evidence of significant environmental damage during seismic work. There is no radiation or emission coming out to surface as the explosives is used down below in the hole. Nevertheless company takes utmost care in safety from these explosives.

7. Company always prefer to hire local manpower as they know local area much better than anybody else. However the exploration requires skilled manpower and people having several years of relevant experience are deployed depending on their availability including this block, Manipur or the entire country.

8. Our contractor has always taken prior permissions and will continue to do so. However if there is a case where permission was not taken from the legitimate person, we can look into it. Company has done only seismic survey so far and it does not require acquiring land temporarily or permanently except for material/equipment storage and temporary accommodation. The company requires land only for exploratory drilling.

9. So far company has not undertaken any exploratory drilling activity. It is currently doing only seismic survey work for which the current law does not require to do any public hearing. Drilling will be done only after doing this public hearing and obtaining the Environmental Clearance from MoEF, GOI.

Upto the time of commencement of the Public Hearing, the following 5 (five) new written responses about the proposed drilling and allied activities have been received at the venue of the P/H and they are enclosed as Annexure II.

1. General Secretary, Hmar Student’s Association, Parbung, Churachandpur
2. Secretary General, Zomi Human right Foundation
3. President, Sinlung Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Organisation Hmaram Cell
4. Chairman, Tipaimukh Area Village Authority Union, Parbung
5. President, Zomi Students’ Federation, New Lamka, Churachandpur.

The proceedings of the Meeting were finalized in consultation with the public and read over duly. The copy of the proceedings will be displayed in the office of the SDO Parbung for information to public.

The Chairman then thanked the public for their active participation and all those responsible for conduct of Public Hearing. A copy of the list of members/public attending the P/H is also appended as Annexure- III.

A vote of thanks was offered to all the participants in the Public Hearing by the Sr.Env.Engineer/MPCB. The chairperson declared thereafter public hearing to be over.

 

Parbung hearing peaceful, but public object oil exploration

Parbung, Aug 09: A public hearing in connection with the proposed oil exploration and other allied activities in Churachandpur's Parbung under Tipaimukh Sub-division of Churachandpur District, which falls under Block AA-ONN-2009/1, was held on August 8.

The oil exploratory drilling and other allied activities were to be undertaken by the Noida (UP)  based Jubilant Oil & Gas Pvt. Ltd following inking of a Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) with the Government of Manipur on November 15, 2010.

Jubilant Oil and Gas Private Limited (JOGPL) has its headquarters at Netherlands and is registered with the London Stock Exchange for exploration and drilling works in two blocks in Manipur. It is said that the contracts was awarded to JOGPL under the eighth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy Eighth Round (NELP-VIII). The Government of India has signed the "Production Sharing Contract" (PSC) on 19th July 2010 at New Delhi. The total area granted for oil exploration is 3957 sq kms in the two blocks, which is almost one sixth of the total area of Manipur.

Despite failing to secure free and prior informed consent of the people in whose land the project is targeted, the Oil and Gas Company has already stepped into the project targeted areas since the beginning of 2012. The uninformed villagers in Tipaimukh were taken by surprise with the pace of urgency that the oil and gas company has been exerting in the absence of any mandatory information. In the absence of the required prior information the conducted public hearing took the villagers by surprise as they were already left out by the mandatory processes.

The visiting team for the public hearing headed by Ms Jacintha Lazarus, Deputy Commissioner of Churachandpur also comprises HD Gangte, DFO, Churachandpur, N.Minaketan Singh, Senior Environmental Engineer, Manipur Pollution Control Board, Apoorva Ranjan, Vice President (Projects), Jubilant Oil and Gas Pvt Ltd, K. Jagadishwor Singh, Member Secretary, Manipur Pollution Control Board, W. Ibohal Singh, SDO (Parbung), Churachandpur.

The public hearing began with Apoorva Ranjan explaining about the proposed public hearing for the proposed exploratory drilling and allied activities in block AA-ONN2009/1 covering Churachanpur District, Manipur. After introducing the company he told the people of Parbung that the company is an experienced one in such work for over 15 years and currently operating in 7 oil & gas blocks and that its operations follows the international standards.

The unaware villagers raised innumerable questions, pushing the panel of the State to the wall without any convincing answers. The DC of Churachandpur tried its best to fill the gaps left unanswered by the Jubilant representative, but the attempt is far from delivering the right answer. The marginalised villagers' apprehension were visible from the various questions that was posed to the visiting State as well as Jubilant panel;  In the absence of any information how do we participate in the public hearing and know anything about the positive aspects of the project; how will the project impact our livelihood system; how will the project improve our basic infrastructure; how will the project sustain and conserve our environment; what measures does the company have in case of accidents with the project.

Not convinced with the manner the haste and insensitive project is being carried out, the already invisible villagers failed to romanticize about the imposed project in the same way that the distant stakeholders are imagining. The Tipaimukh villagers strongly felt that they should be the biggest stakeholders in the project while it has severely failed to count them in. Tipaimukh Village Authority are concerned with the manner in which the No Objection Certificate was issued to the project implementors. Their neglected plights sees no end as the ongoing project failed to take them into concern in any of the processes regarding their land rights and other traditional rights. Leaders of the Village Authority told this reporter about the outbreak of fire in the course of the exploration process that involves detonating loads of explosives, which destroy a good part of their reserve jhum land. The villagers' apprehension with the ongoing exploration  was further heightened as the exploration works threaten not only their sustainable livelihood prospects but actually disturb and destroy their jhum cycle also, leaving behind no alternative for their resort. "We are towards towards a famine as the inhumane project has destroyed our crops and farm in the name of development".

Majority of the daily wagers of Tipaimukh complained about the ongoing discrimination as they experienced that they were paid a much lower wages than the outside laborers while they were made to risk everything that they have never experienced before. It was a disgrace as this reporter was told that the wages of the Tipaimukh workers were raised with an amount of Rs. 2500 a couple of day before the public hearing, which was seen as a face saving exercise to everyone. In the face of all this, all the Hmar community based organisations have expressed their serious concern with the ongoing discrimination and marginalisation even when the project is still in its initial stage. The Hmar community is also at the brink of suspicion as they have totally lost their trust and confidence with the ongoing imposed project.  Five most powerful Hmar community based organisations submitted their protest as they were never involved in any of the mandatory decision making process.

 

Source:Hueiyen News Service