Mekedatu talk at CWMA meet: Farmers plan fast on June 23

TIRUCHY: Delta farmers have decided to hold a hunger strike on June 23 to register their protest against the Cauvery Water Management Authority’s (CWMA) decision to take up the issue of Mekedatu Dam construction for a discussion at its meeting on that day.

Announcing this at Tiruvarur on Monday, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Association General Secretary PR Pandian said that farmers would also hoist black flags atop the houses to condemn the move of the CWMA.

Speaking to reporters after the state executive committee meeting of the association, Pandian said, while the case against the construction of Mekedatu Dam is pending before the Supreme Court, the Centre has been ‘encouraging’ the CWMA to support Karnataka government to take up the Mekedatu Dam issue for discussion. “All the farmers from the Cauvery Delta region condemn Jal Shakthi Ministry, which has been acting in favour of Karnataka,” said Pandian.

He said that the discussion should be carried out only after the consent of the states involved in the project and the representative from the Centre should be a mere spectator in the meeting and the CWMA can only approach the Union government for legal support when the participating states differ in their opinion. But, the final decision should be made as per the direction of the SC when an unsolved issue arises.

However, Karnataka government has been planning to initiate the Mekedatu project just for political gains.

“This attitude will certainly cripple the activities of CWMA and the Tamil Nadu government should initiate steps to prevent this through legal course,” Pandian stressed.

In order to express the opposition against the discussion, the Cauvery Delta farmers have decided to observe a hunger strike on June 23 and hoist black flag atop the houses across the region to register their protest against the CWMA, he added.