VELLORE: With Vellore district beginning to reel under acute water shortage and drought as the mercury levels continue to soar, the farmers here feel let down by mainstream political parties in their much trumpeted poll manifesto and promises on the key issue of protecting Palar river, lying bone dry.
The vexatious inter-state river sharing issue found no significant space in the poll manifestos of the major parties, according to activists fighting for the cause of saving the lifeline of northern Tamil Nadu.
The farmers and activists had expected the parties to come out with earnest announcements on protecting the interests of Tamil Nadu on Palar water sharing row, working towards connecting upper Palar basin with Godavari-Cauvery linking scheme and stopping indiscriminate sand mining on the river bed.
“What we expected on the unending Palar River sharing issue was strong steps to protect the river from ruining and saving the life of lakhs of farmers. But we found nothing significant in the manifestos,” rues A Ashokan, a prominent figure in the fight for Palar.
Pointing out that announcement of constructing 10 check dams across Palar, separately by both AIADMK and the DMK was an insignificant poll promise, he said such steps would not serve the purpose of retrieving the river from destruction and damage inflicted by unregulated sand mining.
According to Ashokan, “During the general elections to the Lok Sabha, they should have come out strong steps to address the issue once for all.”
Disappointed and dispirited over the neglect of the Palar issue, the farmers here have decided to jump into the elections.
In Vellore Lok Sabha constituency, the Palar Protection Committee has fielded MR Venkatesan while efforts are being taken up for finding right hands to face the polls in Arakkonam Lok Sabha constituency and Ambur Assembly segment.
Talking to Express, Palar Protection Committee chief AC Venkatesan says by fielding candidates the farmers will be able to reach a wider section of general public and create awareness among the voters on the unending river water row.
“We consider it an opportunity to go to the people and explain them the severity of the issues and the adverse impact of unavailability of water in Palar,” he explains.
Venkatesan, who is also the general secretary of Tamil Nadu All Farmers Association Coordination Committee, states, “We approached all the mainstream parties with a plea for taking steps to connect upper Palar basin in the proposed Godavari-Cauvery Link Scheme, but they failed to give importance to the matter in the poll manifesto.”
Without water in the river, agricultural activities in about 1 lakh hectare ayacut areas were completely wiped out over the years.
What do the farmers and activists expect from the parties and their candidates?
“They must realise and recognise the magnitude of the Palar issue first. They should make a promise and work for Nethravathi-Palar linking scheme, connecting upper Palar in the proposed Godavari-Cauvery linking scheme and approaching Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister for discharging water in the Palar river,” says Ashokan.