The rough terrain and absence of infrastructure and security implications in the region has discouraged oil exploration in the nearly 5,000 sq km of barren expanse of the Rann.
Is Kutch going to be India’s own petro-rich ‘Gulf’? Plans are afoot to start oil exploration in the protected Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary area. And if experts are to be believe then the adjacent Rann area, whose geographical expanse straddles the India-Pakistan border, could be sitting on huge oil reserves.
The rough terrain and absence of infrastructure and security implications in the region has discouraged oil exploration in the nearly 5,000 sq km of barren expanse of the Rann.
But the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has now sought permission to conduct a 2D seismic survey in a 158-sq km area within the Narayan Sarovar wildlife sanctuary, which is quite close to the Rann.
The ONGC’s proposal for a seismic survey in the area is with the National Board for Wildlife in India (NBWLI), awaiting a final decision in the matter.
Sources, however, say that the proposal itself is sufficient indication of the presence of oil in the region, and that it is only a matter of time before it is tapped by petroleum companies.
NBWLI member, Divyabhanusih Chavda, who visited the site in October, has turned down the ONGC’s proposal, saying that such a survey will have a detrimental effect on the local geography and its flora & fauna. He said the animal species that will suffer the most is the chinkara.
“I have a two-fold objection — if test drilling is required, each drill will need 200 people working on two hectares of land,” he said.
“If you don’t find oil, the entire exercise would have achieved nothing except disturb the whole region badly. And if you do find oil, we will have to decide between keeping the sanctuary or the oil. I have voted to keep the sanctuary.”
Chavda’s primary concern is that a part of the sanctuary has already been de-notified once for a cement company. If more areas are de-notified, the wildlife population of the sanctuary will come into severe conflict with humans.
“The sanctuary area was reduced from 765 sq km to 444 sq km to accommodate industry. Now if the sanctuary is to be shrunk further, where will the wildlife go?” Chavda said, articulating his concern.
The survey is likely to lead to the discovery of oil in this region.
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