Anti-HT farmers dump EPIC in Erode

Around 15 farmers dropped their voter ID cards in the grievance box kept at the Collectorate. In a petition, which was also dropped into the box, they urged the State government to release 12 farmers’ association leaders lodged in the Coimbatore central prison. 

The farmers, who wanted the cases foisted on farmers in different localities in Erode district to be revoked, demanded that work on the H-T lines be stopped until the completion of elections. The farmers were not able to handover the petition to the Collector or other officials due to the poll code.

The proposed high-tension line is likely to cut through farmlands in as many as 13 districts across Tamil Nadu including Karur, Erode, Namakkal, Salem and Coimbatore.

Justifying their opposition, the farmers said the power lines, which would traverse through thousands of acres of fertile farmlands, may result in the loss of their livelihood. They also expressed fear that their lands would lose the market value if the overhead power lines come up. They said the State government must replicate the example of Kerala, which laid the power cables underground.