Alleging irregularities in desilting work in Srivaikundam dam, farmers picked a heated argument with Collector M. Ravikumar at the farmers’ grievance day meet on Thursday.
Thamizh Mani, a farmer from Kurumbur, said that the Public Works Department, which should have started desilting operation from the dam for about 1 km, commenced the exercise far away from the reservoir as sand quarrying was its only objective.
Former MLA S. Rajendran and farmer K. Kandasamy of Srivaikundam urged the Collector to come out with a ‘white paper’ in this connection.
They questioned the reason behind taking the sand quarried from the dam to the depot at Gangaikondan in Tirunelveli district. “The silt alone should have removed. If the sand is also taken during this process, it could have been sold to the public near the dam. Instead, it is being taken to a depot and sold at a premium somewhere,” the farmers charged.
Mr. Ravikumar said desilting was going on as per the directions of the National Green Tribunal, and hence desilting had been taken up only in the first and the second reaches.
“The contractor had paid the amount for taking sand in full to the government, and is taking the sand as per his convenience,” he said.
When Mr. Ravikumar said that the farmers were politicising the issue, the agriculturalists gathered in front of him. However, they were pacified by District Revenue Officer Murugaiah and senior officials.
When former MLAs Rajendran and Ayyalusamy wanted the Collector to expedite distribution of compensation for crop loss to farmers, Mr. Ravikumar said that the State government had allotted Rs. 32.46 crore for Tuticorin district. However, the farmers, backed by the two former MLAs, said that the amount was not enough to compensate the loss.
When a group of people from Udankudi area wanted permanent closure of a fish processing unit there which allegedly spread an unbearable odour, another group of people from Kulasekarapattinam opposed it to trigger a heated argument between them.
When one Saraswathi from Nandapuram near Udankudi, who was arguing vehemently against the fish processing unit, swooned, he was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. Normality returned after the officials intervened.
