Farmers from western districts commence fasting protest

On their seventh day of protest, the farmers resorted to fasting protest to press the government to drop its plan to take the power transmission towers through fertile farmlands. The farmers have been holding a chain of protests to highlight their plight. They held mock mournings, staged half-naked protests, opened ‘kanji thotti’, begging protest and boycotted ‘Uzhavar Sandhai’ over the last one week.

Farmers protesting in Coimbatore were joined by ‘Desiya Thenninthiya Nathigal Inaippu Vivasayigal Sangam’ president P Ayyakannu and MLA Thaniyarasu. Many farmers came to the protest venue on bullock carts and shouted slogans against the government.

Speaking to media,P Ayyakannu said that if the government fails to heed to their justifiable demands, then farmers will go on a massive protest in Chennai. “Why didn’t the government attempt to lay the power cable underground like the one in Gujarat? Both the state and central governments should understand that this is a democratic nation,” he said.

In Erode, a group of men and women began their fast and vowed to continue to abstain from food until their demands are met. A team of doctors from a private hospital was in place at the protest venue to attend to emergencies. Similarly, farmers resorted to a similar fasting protest in Salem district.

The proposed power line is likely to cut through farmlands in as many as 13 districts across Tamil Nadu including Karur, Erode, Namakkal, Salem, Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Thiruvannamalai, Dindigul and Tirupur.

The protesting farmers expressed anguish that the power lines traverse through thousands of acres of fertile farmlands, which may, in turn, lead to their loss of livelihood. They also fear that their lands will lose the market value if the power lines crisscross through their lands.

Farmers have been demanding to lay the power cables underground similar like in Kerala.