TN farmers have noose around their neck after Centre's U-turn on Cauvery board

TIRUCHY: Condemning the Centre's stand that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to direct the constitution of Cauvery Management Board, a demand that Tamil Nadu has raised consistently, a group of farmers staged a protest on Tuesday morning, with a symbolic noose around their neck on a bridge across Cauvery.

"While Karnataka is keeping on increasing its cultivation area relying on Cauvery water, the area is drastically reducing in Cauvery delta districts of Tamil Nadu. At such a juncture, instead of showing an impartial approach in am inter-state dispute, the Union has been siding with Karnataka for political reasons, probably for the ensuing assembly elections there. We are left with no other option than to hang ourselves," P Ayyakannu, president of Farmers' Association for Interlinking of National-South Indian Rivers told Express.

Meanwhile, a group of 36 farmers including a woman staged another protest - this time, it was rolling over Mambazhasalai, a busy stretch that connects Srirangam island with Tiruchy city. This led to traffic jam for a while, before police personnel forcibly removed and detained them.

The sloganeering farmers came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remaining silent over the Cauvery river water sharing dispute, instead of constituting the management board as insisted by Supreme Court for facilitating prescribed share of water to Tamil Nadu farmers.

TN asks Centre to withdraw stand on CMB

Tamil Nadu chief secretary P Rama Mohan Rao shot off a letter to union water resources secretary, urging him to withdraw the stand on the apex court's jurisdiction. The ministry, he added should constitute the Cauvery Management Board on or before October 4 as directed by the Supreme Court.