Farmers, officials spat over HT line triggers tension in Erode

When the team of officials descended on a farm owned by Boopathy at Mettukadai with equipment, irate farmers broke into a heated quarrel with them as well as the police, who were deployed in large numbers to prevent any untoward incident.

While seeking to enhance the compensation for their lands for the project, the farmers also sought payment for removing their poultry shed. The officials later pacified the farmers by agreeing to take up the matter with seniors.

Following this, the farmers left the spot, paving way for the corporation to install the transmission towers. The farmers gave up their protest as the police have begun to arrest those opposing the project, according to sources.

It was on Wednesday that the police arrested 13 persons, including the farm owner, for protesting the usage of his land to erect a transmission tower at Puthur Pudupalayam near Perundurai in the district.

Farmers have been protesting over the last two years against the installation of high power transmission towers through agricultural lands. They claimed that these power lines traverse through thousands of acres of fertile farmlands in several western districts. They also fear that their lands will lose market value if the power lines criss-cross their lands.

The Power Grid Corporation of India Limited and the State government’s Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation Limited has proposed to install such transmission towers on agricultural lands in as many as 13 districts in the State.

Opposing the project, the farmers sought the State and Central governments to carry out the project by laying underground cables-similar to Kerala and parts abroad, or take up an alternative pathway without disturbing the farmlands.