TIRUCHY: Farmers from Thanjavur staged a protest on Saturday demanding to stop dredging of sand from riverbeds and declare the Delta region as a protected drinking water zone.

The agitating farmers, who assembled on the Kollidam riverbed at Veeramangudi claimed that the riverbed is dug beyond permitted levels which poses a threat to environment as well as the groundwater level. Since the groundwater level is affected, the farmers from the region who are dependent on the borewells are struggling for water.

The farmers also charged that the sand quarry that has been functioning at Sathanur near Kallanai poses a threat even to the historical Grand Anicut and this would affect the entire Delta region.

They appealed to the government to declare Kollidam as a protected drinking water zone to save the river and the groundwater.

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