Past fantasy, present reality

Nagaland is extremely rich in natural resources with around 600 million metric tons of estimated crude oil and gas reserves spread across districts such as -Wokha, Mokokchung, Peren, Chümoukedima, Niuland, Kohima, etc. Nagaland also has substantial deposits of high quality coal estimated at 492.68 million tonnes, with major deposits in Mon, Mokokchung, Wokha, and Tuensang districts, primarily sub-bituminous to lignite in nature. Nagaland also has significant limestone deposits, particularly in the Tuensang and Phek districts, with notable reserves at Nimi, Wazeho, and Satuza, and the Mimi-Pyakatsu block. All these natural resources if efficiently extracted and commercially exploited can bring in undreamt of revenue to the state to create magnificient infrastructures for economic development and also provide huge benefits to the people by way of better and most free and affordable education, free and highly developed health care and propel agriculture to the highest levels. In order to begin the new journey of realistic hope based on ground reality, the people and their leaders have to take the call. Nagaland is annually losing at least a thousand crore rupees in oil revenue each year because the government lacks political will to do what is good and right for the people. Oil remains buried for over six decades with the tiny extraction on “trial basis” permitted in 1972 to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation(ONGC) Ltd. which was stopped in 1994. By then ONGC had extracted several thousand barrels of oil which were taken to Numaligarh. ONGC claimed that only a few thousand barrels were extracted and for which Nagaland was paid a mere Rs.33 crore. The spark to resume oil operation in Nagaland came when the Centre had pushed through the proposal in the interest of Assam which has been heavily engaged in oil operations along the border with Nagaland. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had approved exploratory drilling by Assam on a site in the DAB, which falls in Tzurankgong Range between Mokokchung and Jorhat districts of the two states. At the tripartite meeting held in March 2023, the Centre had facilitated a meeting between Assam and Nagaland where both states agreed in principle on revenue earning on 50:50 basis from oil operations in the Disturbed Area Belt(DAB) along their border. This indicates a major oil reserve especially in the DAB at Tzurangkong range in Mokokchung district and DAB at Wokha district. Since the bulk of the oil reserves in the so-called DAB fall on Nagaland side of the border, it is presumed that oil companies in Assam have been extracting oil on a huge scale through horizontal drilling method. In fact, according to former Lok Sabha MP, Tokheho Yepthomi, there are a total of 36 known oil fields located in between the disputed Assam-Nagaland boundary, out of which Assam is drawing oil revenue. As and when there is full scale oil operations, Nagaland must insist that at least two mini oil refineries – one at Tuli and another at Changpang be set up to refine crude extracted from the areas. If two refineries each with 1 million metric tons of production per year are established, it may take even 200 years to exhaust the crude. Around 300 to 500 staff are required to man each refinery and in total there could be between 800 to 1000 employees per refinery. This will give a huge boost to employment and revenue besides royalty . Thus, Nagas have to choose between reality and fantasy.