No to incursive oil exploration, yes to revenue-sharing: Deputy CM Zeliang

Morung Express News
Dimapur | January 28

According to the Deputy Chief Minister, TR Zeliang, Nagaland should object to any incursive development activity, including oil exploration, by Assam in the Disputed Area Belt (DAB). With the Assam state government recently getting clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MOEFCC) for petroleum exploration in the DAB it shares with Nagaland, he was asked why the Nagaland state government has still to register protest. 

“Even if they have received clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, if the land belongs to Nagaland, we should not accept it. We should challenge it in court,” Zeliang said on the sideline of a public function on January 27 in Jalukie, where he inaugurated a Rest House of the Public Works Department.  Exploration and exploitation of oil should only take place on their land, he added. 

The proposed exploration site falls in territory contested by both Assam and Nagaland, forming part of the DAB contiguous to Mokokchung and Wokha districts. Assam claims it is part of the Hoollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary. The approval for exploration on the site proposed by Assam came from the standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) in December 2024. 

The two neighbouring northeastern states have a longstanding border dispute, which has been under adjudication in the Supreme Court since 1988. The disputed border stretches from Niuland till Mon on the Nagaland side; and Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar and Charaideo districts on the Assam side.

As opposed to the government taking the lead, he held that the affected landowners should assert ownership of their land, flag the issue and the government would follow suit. 

Sometime in April 2023, the Assam and Nagaland CMs had reportedly agreed in principle to sharing revenue from oil extracted in the DAB, followed by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to seal the reported verbal agreement. There has been no clarity on the status of the rumoured MoU, since.

While official confirmation awaits the rumoured MoU, he said that the CMs of the two states, in consultation with the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, had discussed “50/50” sharing of oil revenue extracted from the DAB. Setting this into motion reportedly includes Assam suspending any ongoing oil extraction in the DAB. 

As revealed in Parliament, Assam was operating 8 oil fields in the DAB as of July 2022. If the Deputy CM is to be believed, most of the drilling points in the DAB have been suspended. 

Zeliang added that in the event of dispute, wherein either of the two parties claims an area from where oil was extracted is outside the DAB, while the other claims it is within it, the royalties from that area will be held by a third party or in an “escrow account.” 

Chief Minister Neiphiu, had on January 24, told the media that there is consensus between the two neighbouring states for equal sharing of revenue from petroleum extracted from contested territory. He also did not say if the agreement has been put to ink. 
Zeliang was asked if oil revenue sharing has started already. To which he replied that it is supposed to, as per what was discussed between the two CMs. 

Prodded further if the Assam government can be trusted in a revenue-sharing arrangement, he said that neither government can fully trust the other, and thus, the involvement of a third party in the form of the Union Home Ministry.

On Pagla Pahar NH 29
Zeliang, who is incharge of Planning & Transformation, National Highways, was asked on the safety/mitigation measures taken on the Pagla Pahar stretch of NH 29 in Chümoukedima. He informed that he is waiting for a project report from a consultant group regarding slope protection.  “I instructed them to complete it by January and begin implementation by February or March,” he said, while adding that he was scheduled to meet them on January 28. He was also slated to sit with the NHIDCL the same day.

PWD Rest House
Speaking at the inauguration programme of the PWD Rest House, he emphasised the importance of post-construction maintenance. According to him, it was the third government guest house in Jalukie.

“I am happy we have a new guest house but I am also worried about the long-term prospect of maintaining it,” he said, while he suggested the prospect of privatising the guest house, in the form of leasing it out to entrepreneurs. Such an arrangement would prevent the facility from going into disrepair, he said.   

The rest house was constructed at a cost of Rs 3.21 cr with funding from the State Plan. Construction started in 2022 and completed in December 2024. Dreams Enterprise was the construction firm. 

Bashangmongba Chang, Minister for Housing and Mechanical Engineering, who also accompanied Zeliang, termed the construction of the guest house a symbol of the government’s commitment to bring development.