Tzürangkong Senso Senden (TSS) has affirmed that no one would be allowed to explore, drill oil and extract natural resources in Tsurangkong Range without the knowledge, consent and valid agreement with the ancestral traditional land owners of the Ao Naga community.
In a press release, TSS president Moa Kichu and secretary Chuba Pongen stated that Tsurangkong range bordering Assam is inhabited by the Ao Naga community of Mokokchung district, who are the traditional land owners. TSS also said that Tsurangkong Range is the ancestral traditional land belonging to the Ao Naga Community.
The Senden stated that recently the government of Assam “abetted” by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change was trying to allot their traditional ancestral land to Vedanta for exploration and drilling of oil without their knowledge and consent.
TSS further stated that border magistrate, district forest officer of Assam, officials from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change and Vedanta were turned away from their area on November 15, 2024. TSS said the officials had gone there for “inspection of our area without our knowledge and consent for the purpose of exploration and drilling of oil.”