Lone Tiruchy farmer opposes water exploration bid

M P Chinnadurai, district president of the Sangam, came to the Collectorate and all of a sudden squatted on the entrance. He started raising slogans against digging of new bore wells and deepening of existing bore wells for the combined drinking water schemes in the Cauvery at Kambarasampettai in Tiruchy.

Police officials on duty, tried to pacify him, but Chinnadurai went on raising slogans stating that the PWD has planned for digging new bore wells and also deepening of the existing ones. “If the department completes the proposed schemes, a minimum of 27 MLD water would be drawn from these bore wells and this would badly affect the ground water level in this region,” he said and added that already the ground water level has gone down alarmingly in the Cauvery.

He also pointed out that the government has sanctioned funds for establishing a new comprehensive drinking water scheme tapping Cauvery water flowing through Kambarasampettai panchayat. “Already we lost our main crop due to lack of water. By permitting to tap ground water further from the Cauvery river bed, the government is leading us to doom,” he claimed. 

Chinnadurai also said that soon a massive hunger strike protest is to be organised if no proper replies are provided to the farmers and villagers based at Kambarasampettai by district administration. Police detained him.