Farmers moot river water parliament to end disputes

“Farmers from Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have been turned into our enemies by the politicians,” said T Gurusamy, a farmer activist from Madurai. 

“Each farmer wants to help his counterpart and so we will discuss it within us and then approach the government,” he said. Vilayodi Venugopal, a farmer and chairman of the Anti-Coca-Cola Agitation Committee, Kerala said, Palakkad is a drought- hit district where farmers have been protesting for water for long. People have started to revolt against the government to solve the problem as they have understood that they want to split the farmers for their political gain. 

“River Parliament should form an expert committee and visit the major reservoirs and take note of the water availability and then recommend the quantum of water to be shared. This would help solve the prevailing disputes,” Venugopal suggested. BH Lokesh, a farmer from Karnataka, pointed out that water management in India is very weak. 

“The average rainfall in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka is between 700 mm and 1500 mm annually but still we face water shortage. While a few western countries receive only 200 mm rain annually and they utilise water for drinking, farming and other activities as they have a good planning which we lack.” The farmers have planned to meet on December 10 in Chennai to officially establish the river parliament and begin working for resolving water disputes.