TDP general secretary, Nara Lokesh, on Monday assured the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) affected villagers of Nagaram in P Gannavaram Assembly segment to take the matter to the notice of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) and the GAIL.

Lokesh resumed his Yuva Galam pada yatra after a long gap of almost 80 days. During his pada yatra the villagers who are affected by the GAIL and the ONGC met him and submitted a memorandum in which they raised various issues that they are facing. The villagers said that on June 27, 2014 the GAIL pipelines in their area exploded resulting in the loss of 22 lives while several others suffered serious injuries.

They mentioned in the memorandum that the then TDP government paid Rs 25 lakh each as ex gratia while the GAIL and the ONGC did not come forward to pay the compensation that they announced at the time of the incident. Even the promises made by the Central agencies to adopt the village and to rebuild the houses that were damaged due to the blast are also not fulfilled till now, they informed Lokesh.

This apart, only Rs 30 lakh is paid till now for the reconstruction of the temple in the village though at the time of the blast they estimated the damage to be Rs 80 lakh, they told Lokesh. Several others promises like setting up a Skill Development Centre in the village to come to the rescue of the jobless youth, upgrading the primary health centre (PHC) as 100-bedded hospital and the compensation for the 17.5 acres of land in which the ONGC and the GAIL have set up their officers where Muslim Panjas were existing earlier is not paid, they said and made an appeal to Mr Lokesh to resolve all these issues once the TDP is back in power.

Responding to their appeal, Lokesh regretted that it is really unfortunate that the ONGC and the GAIL did not come to the rescue of the affected though it is almost 10 years since the incident has taken place. Appreciating the efforts of the villagers that they are contributing their mite to the GAIL and the ONGC despite facing a lot of problems, Lokesh felt that it is the total responsibility and duty of the oil companies to help the affected when some undue incidents take place.

Promising to rebuild the temples and the Muslim panjas once the TDP is back in power, Lokesh assured the affected villagers that the matter will certainly be taken to the notice of the GAIL and ONGC officials and see to it that all the promises made to them are fulfilled.