A group of farmers, owing allegiance to the Desiya Thennindia Nadigal Inaippu Vivasayigal Sangam, staged a sit-in protest for a couple of hours at the office of the Public Works Department (PWD) near the court campus here on Monday, condemning the State government’s ‘failure’ to mount adequate pressure on the Centre to ensure the release of Cauvery water from Karnataka to take up kuruvai cultivation in the delta districts.
They also demanded release of some water in irrigation canals from Upper Anicut to meet the drinking water requirements of cattle. P. Ayyakannu, president of the association, who led the agitation, said as Karnataka was adamant on releasing water to Tamil Nadu as per the Supreme Court direction, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami should meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps release the State’s due share of water through the Cauvery Management Authority.
With no water release from Mettur Dam, farmers were facing shortage of water for their cattle, he said and demanded that the PWD authorities allow seepage of water through the shutters of the Upper Anicut (Mukkombu) into Ayyan, Pullampadi and Peruvalai canals. “The PWD has stored some water at the Upper Anicut, but has shut the shutters tight preventing seepage. The thin flow of water seeping through the shutters will be enough to meet the requirements of the cattle in the locality,” Mr. Ayyakannu claimed. The protesters also brought in a cow to symbolically hand over a representation to the officials.
PWD officials persuaded the agitators to withdraw the stir assuring them that their demand would be considered.
