CHENNAI: The Coordination Committee of the All Farmers’ Associations of Tamil Nadu on Friday demanded that the union government bring in a legislation guaranteeing Minimum Support Price (MSP) for agricultural produce and reject the Karnataka government’s proposal to construct a dam across Cauvery River at Mekedatu.
P R Pandian, president of the farmers’ body, in a statement said they would undertake a campaign from September 20 to build consensus to construct a dam at Rasimanal. The campaign would begin at Poompuhar, where the Cauvery joins the Bay of Bengal, and travel through several districts, including Karur, Dharmapuri, Vellore and Chennai, before proceeding to Puducherry and concluding at Thiruvarur, He said he also submitted a memorandum to the centre in this regard.
Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Pandian, who is also Tamil Nadu Coordinator for Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) (SKM-NP), said if the Mekedatu dam is constructed, Tamil Nadu will be turned into a desert. Pandian said the SKM-NP held talks with Union Power Minister Manohar Lal and a 13-member delegation at Gurgaon near Delhi on Thursday night. He added that the five-hour meeting ended with the minister assuring them that their demands would be taken up with the departments concerned for expeditious action.