Delta farmers seek 3-phase power supply

TIRUCHY: Delta farmers staged a protest on Friday demanding uninterrupted 3-phase power supply to save summer crops cultivated using borewell irrigation.

Farmers from the Cauvery Delta have widely cultivated summer paddy crops while a few have commenced the cultivation of sugarcane, banana, cotton, blackgram, groundnut, greengram, sesame and maize with the support of borewells. However, in recent days, they witnessed an unscheduled power cut that had affected the crops. Subsequently, they staged a protest with motor pumps demanding uninterrupted power supply in front of the RDO office in Kumbakonam.

“Since the ground water level had gone deep recently, we depend on the high horse powered motors for which we need uninterrupted 3-phase power supply at least for eight hours a day, but the unscheduled power cuts had resulted in withering away of the already cultivated crops,” said Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan who led the protest.

He pointed out that the state government promised the farmers to provide 14 hours of uninterrupted 3-phase power supply, but they hardly get even eight hours a day at present, which affected the crops drastically.

In most of the villages, the farmers are given only 2-phase power supply and it results in much hardship to pull water from the borewells and leads to repairs in the motors. “Since the failure of the uninterrupted power supply, we might not get the usual yield. If we depend on diesel motors, the expenditure goes up steeply and so it is time for the state government to ensure uninterrupted power supply,” he said.

They raised slogans in support of their demand and later, submitted a petition with the Kumbakonam RDO.