Don’t victimise agri lands for projects: Farmers

Demanding that projects that affect agriculture be dropped, the farmers walked out of the meeting hall and staged a protest on the collectorate premises.

Raising slogans in support of their demands, they claimed that both the governments have been causing grief instead of helping farmers.

After the protest, the farmers again entered the meeting hall and complained that the State government has failed to get the Cauvery water for Kuruvai crops. Stating that cultivation was not undertaken in the entire delta region due to lack of water, they sought a compensation of Rs 30,000 per acre for the affected farmers.

Meanwhile, P Viswanathan, President of the Tamil Nadu Lake and River Irrigation Farmers Association, asked the Collector to arrange for free power connection to farmers who have been waiting for over 12 years. “Substations should be established so that the new connections could be given to all those who have been waiting even after applying through the Tatkal scheme,” he said.

Executive Engineer of TANGEDCO, R Anbuselvan said, “In the year 2017-18, as many as 593 applications for free power connections were received from farmers. Of that, 532 connections were given.

In addition, 580 applications were received through the Tatkal scheme and we have given connections to 474 farmers,” he said