Stir over damage to monument halts ONGC drilling

Guwahati, August 28: Six days after a strike called by a student body over alleged damage to a protected monument brought drilling operations in Upper Assam to a grinding halt, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has offered to take up protection and conservation of all historical sites in Sivasagar district to resolve the crisis.

The strike against the Oil company was called on August 23 by the All Tai Ahom Students’ Union (ATASU), which accused ONGC of damaging the Rang Ghar, an 18th-century amphitheatre built during the later part of the Ahom rule. Incidentally, ATASU is only one of the 44 local groups that have been pressing ONGC to fulfil various demands for the district.

“ONGC is passing through a difficult time over an alleged damage threat to Rang Ghar due to seismic surveys carried out in its vicinity. After the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) pointed out that we were too close to the monument, we called off the survey on August 22,” J G Chaturvedi, executive director and asset manager, ONGC Assam, said here on Thursday.

Balyan also said that since ONGC has been operating in several districts, including Sivasagar, which are home to several historical monuments, its proposal seeking a project for protecting these sites has been lying with the ASI and the state Government for over two years now.

A delegation of ONGC officials on Thursday also called on Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and sought the intervention of the state Government to resolve the crisis. “The Chief Minister has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Sivasagar to do the needful,” Balyan added.

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