Kohima, August 7 (The Telegraph): The Nagaland government has decided to resume petroleum exploration and development of oil and natural gas in Champang oilfield in Wokha district and all other oil-rich areas under Article 371 A of the Constitution that gives the state special provision over its land and resources.
Nagaland also has rich oilfields in and around Dimapur and Niuland subdivision near Dimapur. The department of geology and mining has begun conducting geotechnical and geoenvironmental exploration in all the district headquarters to assess safety of lives and property. The state government has constituted a squad under a state-level task force to check random and illegal mining. It is authorised to seize illegal transportation of minerals.
Under the coal policy, mineral checkgates have been set up at strategic locations in Wokha, Mokokchung and Mon districts through which coal mining is constantly monitored. The state had generated a total revenue of Rs 49.5 lakh from coal mining during the current year, according to parliamentary secretary for geology and mining Y. Patton.
The state directorate of geology and mining has collaborative projects with the National Metallurgical Laboratory in Jamshedpur on “Pilot scale smelting and pre-feasibility studies on nickel-cobalt-chromium bearing magnetite ores from Nagaland” for an economically viable plant. Patton said research for the Rs 78-lakh project had started in 2008 and expressed hope that it would be completed by the end of 2011.
The department also has two other collaborative programmes under promotional exploration, ministry of mines, including a detailed exploration of limestone in Nimi-Pyakatsu block with Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd, Nagpur. This project covers both geology survey and drilling of a thousand metres to set up a mega cement plant based on this limestone deposit.
The other one is the regional coal exploration in Northern Khar coalfield in collaboration with Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Ltd, Ranchi, covering both geology survey and drilling of 3,000 metres in three years’ period. Chief minister Neiphiu Rio said his government was undeterred by the warnings of the Naga underground outfits and would continue the exploration and exploitation of the state’s mineral deposits.
He said efforts were on to engage Naga civil society and organisations to convince the Naga outfits opposing the presence of oil companies. “It will be a huge loss for us not to exploit the state’s minerals,” he said. Several companies from abroad are willing to take up oil exploration in Nagaland but militancy has stood in the way. The oil deposit at Champang has around 20 million tonnes of hydrocarbon reserve. Champang is situated on the boundary Nagaland shares with Assam. The state government is apprehensive that the Assam government could tap oil and natural gas from Nagaland. ONGC had started exploration in 1981, but stopped it in 1995 because of militancy.
