Farmers seek debate on water sharing from Mullaiperiyar dam

MADURAI: Farmers from Melur called for an open debate on government orders relating to water sharing from Mullaiperiyar dam to various districts in the south including Madurai and neighbouring districts, to meet the requirements of irrigation. Commotion prevailed at the farmers grievances meeting held at the district collectorate here on Friday, as farmers engaged in heated arguments over sharing of water resources from Mullaiperiyar.

Recently, farmers in Melur region blocked the national highway protesting against releasing water in PTR Channel and Thanthai Periyar channel in Theni district violating the government orders instead of releasing water for single crop cultivation in Melur region. Stressing the same, farmers urged the collector Veera Raghava Rao to strictly adhere to the government orders in this matter as it affected the livelihood of thousands of farmers in Madurai.

Objecting to this, one Sitharaman, a farmer-cum-advocate who belongs to AIADMK, started shouting against Melur farmers and prevented further discussion on this issue. This resulted in heated arguments between them. Mr. Rao immediately intervened and brought the situation under control. Farmer Ravi from Periyar Single Crop Farmers Association, Melur requested the collector to circulate the first GO passed in 1939 during the British rule and the subsequent orders passed by the successive governments after Independence to both farmers and Public Works Department to know the truth. “The first government order has clearly explained about the water availability in the dam and how it should be shared to various districts,” he said.