Declare Delta drought-hit, pay compensation of Rs 35,000 per acre, say farmers in Thanjavur

TIRUCHY: A section of farmers in Thanjavur created a stir during the grievances redressal meeting held on Friday by distributing porridge among themselves and demanding the State government declare Delta as a drought-hit region and provide compensation of Rs 35,000 per acre.

The farmers' grievances redressal meeting was held in Thanjavur, chaired by Collector R Revathi, and soon after the commencement of the meeting, the farmers raised concerns about the water flow, which failed to reach the tail-end regions.

The farmers from Peravurani ayacutdars said that the water from Mettur had not reached the tail-end region even after the release a month ago. The farmers said that the water had not reached the water bodies, including tanks and lakes controlled by the Water Resource Department and even the cattle were also affected without drinking water. They demanded the release of water from Mettur be stepped up to ensure samba cultivation, as they have already faced kuruvai loss.

Suddenly, a section of farmers headed by Kakkarai R Sukumaran, state president of Federation of Tamil Nadu Farmers Associations raised slogans against the State government and demanded that the Delta be declared a drought-hit region. They also asked for crop loan waiver as per the poll promise and walked out of the grievance meeting hall.

After coming out, they staged a protest and distributed porridge to the members, claiming that the livelihood of the farmers has been affected due to poor water release and the failure of crop loan waiver.

The protesting farmers demanded kuruvai loss compensation of Rs 35,000 per acre and demanded that the State government initiate steps to get the due share of water from Karnataka.