TIRUNELVELI: Farmers who had given up their parcels of land for the Thamirabarani-Karumeniyar-Nambiyaru river-linking project in 2009 petitioned District Collector V Vishnu on Monday demanding the state government to disburse compensation for the land at the earliest.
In his petition, Franklin, one of the landowners, said the government has been delaying the disbursal of compensation for the last 13 years. "People voluntarily gave up parcels of land located along the 73-km canal bank stretch for the project which would bring surplus water of Thamirabarani to the rainfed areas of Nanguneri, Thisayanvilai, and Sathankulam. After the project was kept pending for 10 years, the DMK government now expedited the process and the project is in its final stage. So, we believed at least now our compensation would be disbursed. But officials are telling us that the previous G.O. has lapsed, and a new order has to be passed for releasing compensation. Many of the original landowners have even died owing to age-related ailments during this period," he rued.
Meanwhile, residents of Kamarajar Nagar and Indra Nagar located in Muthoor panchayat petitioned the Collector demanding steps start more bus services in their region. "There are around 3,000 people residing in our area. These people, especially students, are facing great hassles daily due to insufficient and delayed bus services," said the women self-help members of Kamarajar Nagar in their petition.