Farmers walkout over delay in water release at grievance redress meeting in Nagercoil
The grievance redress meeting was chaired by Kanniyakumari District Collector R. Alagumeena. At the outset, a group of farmers carrying paddy seedlings condemned the delay in the release of water for irrigation and walked out of the meeting.
The farmers said that the paddy fields in Thovalai and Agasteewsaram blocks were severely affected due to the delay. Amabai 16 and TPS 5 are the predominant paddy varieties cultivated in the region, with a total growth period of 115 days. Accordingly, water must be ideally released in the canal by the first week of June. However, restoration works on the 'Ulli odai' brook near Surulacode have further delayed the release, the farmers added.
'Water was finally released only in the fourth week of June, which took almost two weeks to reach Thengamputhoor and other regions in Agastheeswaram block. By then, the fields had withered due to lack of water and many seedlings had wilted' the farmers said.
They further pointed out that the authorities are citing the unavailability of construction materials as the reason for the delay in restoration, which is unacceptable in today's world. They demanded compensation for those affected by the delayed water release.
Nanjil Puthanar Irrigation Association President Thanu Pillai, Padmanabhapuram Puthanar Irrigation Association President Radhakrishnan, Farmers Chenbagasekara Pillai, Malavilai Pasi were among the farmers walked out of the meeting.
The sudden walkout of the farmers created a stir in the meeting hall.
At the meeting, the collector also addressed the significant number of petitions related to eviction of encroachments from canal porambokes, water ways and water bodies.
Padmanabhapuram Sub Collector Vinay Kumar Meena, Revenue Divisional Officer, Nagercoil S. Kaleeswari and other officials were present at the meeting.
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