Seeking divine intervention, a group of farmers from the Cauvery delta districts on Saturday staged a novel protest against the Centre’s move to grant permission to a private player to dig wells for exploration of hydrocarbon close to the Pitchavaram mangrove forest.
The farmers, led by K.V. Elangeeran, president of the Cauvery Delta Farmers’ Association and Killai Ravindran, president of the Delta Water Resources Protection Front, took out a procession to the Sabapathy temple, popularly known as Sri Natarajar temple in Chidambaram, carrying leaves of the Thillai tree, believed to adorn the head of the presiding deity, Lord Shiva.
Mr. Elangeeran said the project will totally destroy large tracts of Thillai , a medicinal plant found only in the Pitchavaram mangrove forest.
The project will be environmentally dangerous and was unwarranted, he said. Carrying the leaves of a Thillaimaram ( Thillai tree) in platters, the farmers approached the Pothu Dikshithars inside the temple and sought divine intervention to prevent the Centre from going ahead with the project.
