The Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam along with Tamizhaga Vivaayigal Paadhukaapu Sangam and a group of farmers staged a protest demonstration at Pennagaram on Monday demanding that the Power Grid Corporation of India desist from undertaking works on overhead high tension power lines over farmlands across the State.
The farmers demanded that the overhead high tension power lines be replaced with underground cables and Power Grid Corporation pay a monthly rent to the existing structures on farmlands.
Speaking to The Hindu D. Ravidran, State vice-president, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, said, “unlike land acquisition under the 2013 acquisition Act, this Right of Way for power lines does not provide adequate compensation even as it marks a buffer zone around the towers as unfit for human use.
The minute a tower is put up, it decimates the market value for the land, where a land costing ₹1 crore will have its value slashed to less than ₹ 10 lakh,” says Mr. Ravindran.
According to him, while the land acquisition Act, 2013 provides for compensation four times the market value of the land, right of way for land use by Power Grid follows no norms.
Recently, cases under Sections 143,188, 341, 453 of IPC was registered against five farmer leaders and a landowner of a farmland at Perumpaalai village in Dharmapuri after they protested against the entry of Power Grid Corporation staff into his land to erect a line.
The farmers recently met Electricity Minister and an assurance was given to look into their demands.
However, Power Grid Corporation continued with intimidation of farmers by the use of police, they alleged.
The Farmers Associations’ opposed to the HTPL pathways have also planned to organise sit-in protests on farmlands at seven centres in the State on October 22.
“We will sit on farmers’ lands in seven districts, including Coimbatore, Tirupur, Namakkal, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri and Tiruvannamalai if the State Government does not invite us for talks,” Mr. Ravindran said.
