Industries affecting farming in Cauvery Delta will not be permitted: Stalin

CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday said that no industry affecting farming in and around Cauvery Delta will be permitted.

The first meeting of the Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Authority meeting was held at Secretariat under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister in which officials and farmers representatives who are part of the authority participated. In the meeting, Stalin said that to protect farmers in Cauvery Delta and to encourage farming more employment would be generated through farming oriented industries.

As far as irrigation is concerned, the state government will take all possible legal steps to ensure that Tamil Nadu gets its fair share of water from Cauvery river. Steps will also be taken to preserve Cauvery water by constructing check dams and small ponds.

Stalin also urged farmers to cooperate for the efforts taken by the state government for their betterment and to accept the alternate crops and technologies which will pave the way for enhancing their harvest and their economic conditions.

Stalin further urged the farmers to give their opinion and advice to the state government to frame a long term policy for improving agriculture and to implement all the provisions in The Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Development Act, 2020.

"Cauvery Delta region remains as the lifeline of Tamil Nadu as paddy is cultivated at 14 lakh acres in the Delta region which comes around 34 percent of total paddy cultivation in the state. The zone is subjected to various natural disasters and it should be protected for the interest of farmers and food productivity," said Stalin.