Why ONGC and UCIL mum on ‘uranium reserve’ at Borhola?

Why ONGC and UCIL mum on ‘uranium reserve’ at Borhola?

From our Correspondent

JORHAT, March 1: What prevents Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) from making a formal announcement about the reported discovery of a uranium reserve at Borhola along the Assam-Nagaland border in November 2009? Speculations from various quarters are diverse, but the move on the part of the Centre to separate the Assam Assets from ONGC has made the matter more mysterious. Many quarters in the State want to say that ONGC and UCIL have been maintaining a silence on the “discovery” of uranium in Assam just to get the Assam Assets separated from ONGC without any hassle. This speculation holds much water as one of the reasons for the government’s move to bifurcate Assam Assets from ONGC is loss, and it may turned out to be a much dividend-paying entity if the report of discovery of uranium becomes a real one. If this speculation is true, it is an anti-Assam conspiracy.

Indications of presence of a uranium pit at Borhola, one of ONGC’s oldest oil fields in the North-east, was found in a survey conducted jointly by ONGC and UCIL in November last year. ONGC had once said that there was a high probability of uranium in the oil field following the detection of radio active properties in the contents of the oil well.

ONGC officials have been maintaining a mysterious silence on the issue. When contacted, Basin Manager of Assam-Arrakan Basin Satyajit Choudhury said: “I know nothing about the reported discovery of uranium at Borhola.”

ONGC has invested Rs 500 crore for research and development of renewable and alternative energy, including uranium mining.

It may be mentioned here that the Centre and the UCIL have been facing tough times in Meghalaya over uranium-mining, in the face of stiff resistance by several organizations. The Government, once bitten in Meghalaya, seems to be twice shy in Assam, which also explains why ONGC and UCIL are maintaining an eerie silence over the alleged uranium find in Assam.