No water even after 1200 ft in borewell; farmer ends life

Coimbatore District Police said that he grew a few hundred coconut trees on the land. With drought-like conditions prevailing, he was upset seeing the yield dropping drastically and several old trees drying. He borrowed a few lakhs of rupees from money lenders and had drilled two borewells last week. 

Inquiry revealed that he drilled two 1,200-foot-deep borewells but failed to find water. The man’s family and neighbours said that he was depressed ever since the wells failed to yield water. On the other hand, the money lenders were putting pressure on him to repay the loan. 

Upset over these events, he consumed the pesticide used for coconut trees at his house on Wednesday night. He was rushed to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital, where he died during treatment on Thursday morning. After post-mortem, his body was handed over to his family. 

Arumuga Gounder is the first farmer to commit suicide due to inability to save his crops in Coimbatore district this year. The last time a farmer committed suicide in Coimbatore district was Ramasamy (65) of Veppampallampudur village near Karamadai, in April last year.