A team of scientists from Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany (BSIP) has found biological evidence of the presence of hydrocarbons in Ganga basin. The basin was till now thought to be devoid of hydrocarbons. Undertaking the project in collaboration with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC),the scientists led by the institute director,NC Mehrotra,have also assessed that the basin is at least 150 million years older than what it is claimed now. This further pushes the origin of the basin to the Precambrian age. The report was released on Saturday by T Ramasami,Secretary,the Department of Science and Technology,who was in the state capital to deliver the 56th Sir Albert Charles Seward Memorial Lecture at BSIP. Talking about the findings,the lead scientist,Rupendra Babu,said: The age of Ganga basin was till now thought to be 397 million years old (Early Paleozoic era). But our analysis of biological fossils found in the rocks of the oil wells of the basin marks its formation years in the Precambrian age. According to our findings,the age of the basin should be between 750 and 540 million years old. According to Babu,ONGC had drilled wells in the Ganga basin in 1962,but could not find hydrocarbons in the area. About one year ago,the ONGC gave us the project to study the basin more deeply. We started collecting samples from two wells of the Ganga basin near Sahjahanpur and Ujhani (Badaun) and have found biological remains in these two wells that strongly suggest the presence of hydrocarbons there, he further said. The rocks from these two oil wells have been analysed by the scientists at BSIP and according to Babu,we have found biological remains of invertebrate animals in these rocks which correspond to the orthopods found in the oil wells of California even today. The analysis of the fossils from these wells further suggests that the area had similar biological life there as is found in the fossils of oil wells from Australia,China,Oman and Spitsbergen (Norway) and even Marwar in India. The temperature of the area is expected to be around 300 degree Celsius during fossilizaion,as concluded by the report,further suggesting the presence of hydrocarbons in either liquid or gas form in the area. The reason why the ONGC was not able to hit oil in the area in 1960s was that the drilling was not done deep enough,said Babu. The rocks were taken from a depth of around 3500 meters in the basin. The ONGC was taking it to be the basement rock for the drill. But if we have found suitable biological life at the basement,we are expecting that the hydrocarbon reserve will be at a much deeper level. Now that we are sure of this,the ONGC,which has agreed with our conclusions,can further think of drilling deeper near these sites, he further added. Technical staffs protestAt the BSIP function,the technical staff of the institute gheraoed T Ramasami,Secretary,Department of Science and Technology,and protested against delay in clarity over promotions. Our promotion is pending since 2006. We do not know whether the five-year assessment scheme (implemented by the institute since1983) is discontinued and what is the current method of promotion, said a technical staff of BSIP. As per the government of India guidelines,the scientists are given promotions based on five-year assessment. However,BSIP,an autonomous institute,had adopted the scheme for both the scientists and the technical staff without proper authorisation and so it was discontinued in 2006. We have asked the government to consider the issue for all the institutes under DST,but we cannot bend the norms for one particular institute. Irked by the staff protests,Ramasami said he would not visit the institute again.
