Water dispute: Delta farmers announce indefinite protest

TIRUCHY: Several farmers associations from the region formed a Confederation of Cauvery Delta Protection on Friday and announced an indefinite protest from September 20 demanding quantum of water for irrigation.

Speaking to reporters, the Coordinator of the Confederation P Shanmugam, the State president of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam said, the farmers associations from the Cauvery Delta region felt that they would get water for irrigating over 13 lakh samba and rescue the standing kuruvai only by fighting for

the rights and thus, the confederation was formed, and the first meeting discussed about the current scenario of the Delta cultivation.

Shanmugam appealed to the State government to give a clear picture about the water situation to the Delta farmers. “The farmers, who have already faced severe loss in kuruvai cultivation are sceptical, whether to go ahead with the samba cultivation.

So, it is time, the State government to give assurance or suggest whether to continue samba cultivation this season,” he asked.

He pointed out that the State government has already approached the Supreme court but the court instead of hearing the case immediately, postponed it to September 21 and the farmers have lost faith whether they would get water for samba.

So, the confederation decided to stage an indefinite protest from September 20 in Tiruchy, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Cuddalore, Pudukkottai and Ariyalur.

“This is our first protest and based on the result from the court hearing on September 21, we will intensify the protest “, Shanmugam said.

The confederation has also demanded a kuruvai crop failure compensation of Rs 35,000 per acre immediately.