TIRUCHY: Condemning Karnataka government for its refusal to release the prescribed share of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu, farmers associations – joined by various political parties – staged protests across the State. Farmers and cadre from various parties blocked Vasco-da-Gama - Vailankanni Express in Thanjavur on Tuesday morning.
At Tiruchy railway junction, police personnel detained about 200 farmers before they could enter the railway station. About 60 DMK cadre and party members of various political outfits including DK, MMK and TMC were also detained.
Meanwhile, there were protest demonstrations in the western districts including Coimbatore and Tirupur, but there it was the other neighbour, Kerala, that was the target of the ire. The Avinashi - Athikadavu Poratta Kuzhu (Avinashi - Athikadavu Protest Committee) and farmers’ associations staged demonstration in Tirupur against the proposed move to construct a gravity dam on Siruvani river at Attappadi in Kerala as part of Attappady Valley Irrigation Project.
However, with the farmers belonging to unions affiliated to the Left parties staying away from the protest organised by the Coordination Committee of All Farmers Association, the protests on Cauvery did not hit routine life in places like Tiruchy and other delta districts. There were only sporadic protests at Tiruchy, Ariyalur and Perambalur in the region.
Only the traders in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Nagapattinam districts joined the protest by downing their shutters, while those in other districts remained functional as usual.