Chandigarh, July 7: Ongoing agricultural protests have halted oil exploration efforts in Punjab, pushing a vital hydrocarbon survey more than 20 months past its original timeline. Efforts to commence the data collection process in October 2024, May 2025, and January 2026 were completely disrupted by farming unions, leaving the designated 168-kilometer exploration tract largely untouched.
The ongoing friction has caused significant logistical hurdles for the deployed field crews, who are tasked with drilling thousands of specialized holes to analyze the subsurface geography. Commenting on the field conditions, a senior management representative asserted, “The field teams have been subjected to abuse and equipment vandalisation, besides several shot holes being damaged by protesters.” The project is designed to cover extensive stretches in Muktsar, Moga, and Faridkot, alongside shorter routes through Jalandhar, Kapurthala, and Bathinda.
Local farming families maintained that their resistance is a necessary measure to protect their livelihoods and natural resources. The agricultural unions have stated their fears that successful hydrocarbon detection would lead to the loss of their fields through acquisition. Furthermore, growers are deeply concerned about potential long-term environmental degradation, specifically citing risks to agricultural yields and the safety of the regional water supply.
