Villagers firm on stand, want damaged shutters of tank repaired

To revive protest in the absence of concrete measure to repair the shutters

October 28, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:48 am IST - TIRUNELVELI:

Residents of Thenmalai near Sivagiri in Tirunelveli District climbing up the hillock near their village in protest against delay in repairing the shutters of the irrigation tank.

Residents of Thenmalai near Sivagiri in Tirunelveli District climbing up the hillock near their village in protest against delay in repairing the shutters of the irrigation tank.

Condemning the delay in repairing the shutters of Muriyapaanjaankulam, a group of Thenmalai villagers settled down near a hillock close to their hamlet in the district for a while on Tuesday.

Though the agitation was withdrawn after the revenue officials assured the protestors of “prompt action” before November 4, the villagers have warned that they would not hesitate to revive the protest if no concrete measure was taken to repair the shutters that remain damaged for three decades.

For three decades

As the shutters of Muriyapaanjaankulam near Sivagiri remain damaged for the past 30 years, water from this ‘feeding tank’ could not be released to 13 other irrigation tanks including Kadambankulam, Mela Pannaththikulam, Keezha Pannaththikulam, Soundaraperikulam, Aandaarkulam, Keezha Karisalkulam and Thenmalaikulam. Consequently, farming operations on 5,000 acres in Thenmalai, Arugankulam and A. Subramaniyapuram villages in this region have been completely paralysed for three decades.

After their petitions and protests including uprooting of flag masts of political parties in their village on October 12 failed to evoke any positive response, the Thenmalai villagers, along with the farmers from a few more villages, decided to settle down in the hillock near Thenmalai on Tuesday demanding immediate repairing of the damaged shutters.

Even as the villagers started gathering around 8 a.m. near the hillock where they had erected a pandal, some of them went up to the mound.

Revenue Divisional Officer, Tenkasi, S. Venkatesh, who came to the spot, held talks with the protesting villagers as they were firm in their demand. When Mr. Venkatesh assured the protestors that work on repairing the damaged shutters would be taken up immediately, the villagers temporarily suspended their agitation around 1.30 p.m., saying that they would resume similar agitation if the exercise was not commenced before November 4.

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