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Stop Vaigai water to coffee plant, sugar mill, urge ryots
Farmers from the district demanded the administration and the Public Works Department (PWD) to stop supplying water from Vaigai dam to the plant of a leading coffee brand and a sugar mill.
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Madurai
During a grievance redressal meeting held at Madurai Collectorate, farmers said the district was declared droughthit by former chief minister O Panneerselvam owing to poor rainfall during both the monsoon seasons. At a time when the district was facing drinking water shortage, the coffee plant and a private sugar mill were being supplied water from the Vaigai dam. Pandian, secretary, Madurai District Farmers Association, said the coffee plant was drawing water indiscriminately from the dam.
“When there is a severe shortage of water for drinking and irrigation, the same should not be supplied for industrial purpose. The district administration should immediately stop water to the plant and the sugar mill,” he demanded.
A PWD official said they were supplying 1.5 cusecs to the company, but now the quantum has been reduced to 0.5 cusecs. “Around 1,300 are working at the plant. If water supply is stopped, production would be halted and the workers will lose jobs. Hence, a minimum quantum of water required for production is being supplied,” he said.
Countering the official, Pandian claimed that the water meter installed to measure the supply to the plant was not working and questioned how the officials recorded the quantum of supply when the meter was not working. The PWD official replied that the meter was working and added that motors in the company were not powerful enough to draw excess water.
Water scarcity in Madurai Corporation:
Collector Madurai Corporation does not have enough water to supply its residents for another month and is staring at a crisis, said Collector K Veera Raghav Rao. Speaking at the farmer’s grievance redressal meet, he said that Usilampatti Municipality was also facing a similar situation.
Disbursal of relief shoddy, say farmers
Farmers resorted to a sit-in protest during the grievance redressal meet in Thanjavur on Friday and later staged a walk out alleging confusion in the disbursal of crop damage compensation and that many farmers were left out in the exercise.
They also alleged that the compensation amount was being taken away by banks towards the crop loans. As soon as the meeting commenced, a group of farmers, led by Kakkarai R Sukumaran, State Vice-President, Federation of Farmers Associations, sat on the floor in front of Collector A Annadurai wearing leaves around their neck. They claimed that the assessment of the crop damage was not done properly and demanded compensation to the remaining farmers who were left out in the process. “The compensation disbursed is too low. It has not been given to farmers, who were really affected. For some persons, the sum was adjusted for their outstanding loans,” Sukumaran said.
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