Association seeks Rs 25 lakh as relief to deceased farmers’ family

The state level conference for the TNEB engineers was held in Thanjavur, where the members of Senior Engineers of Tamil Nadu PWD association also participated. The state secretary A Veerappan of the association told the reporters that the crops have failed due to failure of releasing water in the Cauvery by Karnataka government and several farmers lost their lives. 

“The state government should disburse a compensation of Rs 25 lakh each to the family members of the farmers who lost their lives. Similarly, Rs 25,000 should be given as crop loss compensation and Rs 25,000 for the agricultural labourers”, Veerappan stressed. 

Pointing out that the Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana states have executed irrigation schemes worth Rs one lakh crore, Veerappan charged that there were no such schemes for the past 50 years in the main Delta region which covers Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts. 

Meanwhile, Veerappan appealed the state government to oppose the Centre’s draft water bill which will pave way for the corporate companies to take control of water sources across the nation. 

Recently, two farmers died in separate incidents in Thanjavur and Nagapattinam due to crop failure on December 16, with this, the death toll in delta district has risen to 24. 

Victims were identified as Aravind (29) and Saminathan (52)  of Thirumarugal in Nagapattinam. Sources said Aravind undertook samba cultivation in an area of 13 acres. Since there was no water, the crops started to wither and Aravind was in a depressed state.