Anti-hydrocarbon demos in Tiruchy

Tiruchy: Members of several farmers' associations and like-minded organisations of Tiruchy and Tiruvarur districts staged a demonstration after police refused permission for this.

Their demands included a ban on hydrocarbon projects anywhere in Tamil Nadu, declaring the Cauvery delta region as a protected agriculture zone, prevention of illegal sand mining, removal of encroachments on water bodies, appointment of a full time chairman for the Cauvery Management Board, and denial of permission to Karnataka for constructing a new reservoir across the river Cauvery at Mekadatu.

Members of the Tiruchy district unit of the Tamilaga Vivasayeegal Sangam led by their district president M.P. Chinnadurai staged a demonstration at Mukkombu near Tiruchy on Tuesday.

Police arrested some farmers when they attempted to defy the police order and demonstrate at Tiruvarur, Valangaiman and a few other places in Tiruvarur district.

Some students of the Thiru Vi Ka Government Arts College at Tiruvarur abstained from classes and staged a similar demonstration in front of their college for some time. Later, they dispersed peacefully.