DMK regime fails farmers, only 8/56 promises fulfilled, slams Anbumani
Claiming that the State government has failed in water management, Anbumani said that the water stored from one month’s rains can be utilised for 11 months.
TIRUCHY: PMK President Anbumani Ramadoss criticised the DMK government on Friday, saying it had fulfilled only eight out of 56 promises made for farmers, and had failed to implement water irrigation projects, leading to water wastage during the monsoon season.
Interacting with the farmers in Tiruchy as a part of his ‘Tamil Nadu Urimai Meetpu Payanam,’ Anbumani, who met the farmers of the Cauvery irrigated areas, said as many as 22 districts in the State depend on the river for drinking and irrigation purposes. Close to 5 crore people rely on the Cauvery, which is the only source of water, he underscored.
Claiming that the State government has failed in water management, Anbumani said that the water stored from one month’s rains can be utilised for 11 months. He added that there is adequate rainfall in the State and the water could be stored and used for irrigation, but no proper projects have been implemented for irrigation purposes.
520 TMC of water was drained into the sea in 2023, Anbumani said, adding that this occurs every year and there is no proper water management in the State. “The DMK government should implement new projects for irrigation and allocate adequate funds in the budget, which would support the farmers. More than 63 per cent of people are involved in farming in the State,” he said.
He also stated that the neighbouring state of Karnataka had allocated Rs 77,000 crore for water irrigation from the Krishna River for the benefit of 15 lakh farmers from six districts, but the Tamil Nadu government had done nothing of the sort for the benefit of the farmers.
He suggested constructing a check dam every 10 km along the Kollidam, which would solve all problems, including drinking water and irrigation issues, he said. He also charged that the DPC staff demanded bribes ranging from Rs 40 to Rs 60 per bag of paddy from the farmers, but the officials failed to curb the menace. The Odisha government offers an incentive of Rs 800 per quintal, while Andhra Pradesh provides Rs 500. However, Tamil Nadu offers only Rs 131, which Anbumani described as a deceptive act towards the farmers.
