Stalin urges govt to pay Rs 25 lakh to three deceased delta ryot families

The leaders also urged the state government to pay compensation to the families of three farmers who reportedly died in shock after seeing their paddy fields turn dry.

In a statement issued here, Leader of Opposition M K Stalin has urged the state government to pay Rs 25 lakh each compensation to the deceased ryots families. He wanted the government to distribute Rs 30,000 per acre compensation to all farmers who had suffered Kuruvai and Samba crop failure owing to acute water shortage, as was resolved in the all party meeting he had chaired recently to discuss the Cauvery row.  

Stating that the death of three farmers in delta districts had rattled the farming community statewide, the DMK treasurer said that it was disheartening to note that the ruling AIADMK has transformed Thanjavur, the rice granary of Tamil Nadu, in to a suicide zone.  Referring to the delay in releasing water from Mettur dam for the fifth successive year for delta irrigation, Stalin accused the AIADMK regime of wasting even the very little water the state had received during rainy season by not undertaking necessary desilting works to harvest water in lakes and canals, resulting in failure of Samba and Kuruvai crops. 

He accused the ruling AIADMK of betraying the delta farmers by covering up farmers’ suicides when the central committee had visited delta districts to assess the situation earlier. Echoing a similar view, PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss, in a statement, urged the Centre and State to declare entire Tamil Nadu as drought hit and pay Rs 25,000 per acre compensation to crop affected farmers besides Rs. 25 lakhs to families of the deceased.