TN Farmers' association plans state-wide stir against groundwater tax

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam announced a protest in all the district headquarters and will burn the copies of the Union government’s order of imposing tax on groundwater usage for agricultural purposes, said PS Masilamani, general secretary of the outfit affiliated to CPI, here on Friday.

Strongly condemning the order of Ministry Jal Sakthi that directed streamlining the drawing of the groundwater, Masilamani said, it is a strong blow against the farming community.

“Already, the farmers have been facing a series of issues, and the present order will instigate protests across the state. While the farmers have been demanding a profitable price for the farm produce, the present announcement is another blow to the farmers,” Masilamani said.

He also said that the Tamil Nadu farmers have already been depending on the neighbouring states for water for irrigation purposes. As there are several issues in the sharing of water, a majority of farmers are dependent on groundwater, and the farmers never draw groundwater beyond their requirement, as they always prefer to save the groundwater and augment the storage, he said.

“We urge the government to help the farmers in augmenting the groundwater storage by constructing adequate infrastructure but such announcements would trigger tension among the farmers and we demand to withdraw the order otherwise, a series of protests would be organised in all the district headquarters across the state and burn the copies of the orders,” warned Masilamani.