Farmers staged a road blockade protest in Mannargudi and Kottur on Wednesday, demanding that 9,000 cubic feet of water be released for samba cultivation.
To press various demands, including the release of 9,000 cubic feet of water daily for samba cultivation in the delta districts of Tamil Nadu, members of the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association (CPI, CPM) and the All India Kisan Sabha jointly staged a road blockade protest on Wednesday at more than 10 places in and around Mannargudi and Kottur.
Demands raised by the protesters:
* To protect samba cultivation, water should be released from the Vennar and Cauvery rivers in a regulated manner at the rate of 9,000 cubic feet per day.
* As per TVK’s election promise, crop loans should be fully waived.
* New crop loans should be provided immediately without any conditions.
* Considering the impact of El Niño in the delta districts, the delta should be declared a drought-affected district and appropriate relief should be provided to farmers.
* Relief should be provided to the families of agricultural workers who have lost their jobs.
* The Central and State governments should take action to release Tamil Nadu’s rightful share of Cauvery water. The irrigation project in the Pamani river area should be implemented again.
At the road blockade protest held at the four-road junction in Mannargudi Keelapalam under the leadership of Nagapattinam MP V. Selvaraj, TAVIS state committee member S. Thambusamy, CPI(ML) district secretary Selvaraj, Farmers’ Association office-bearers R. Sadasivam, G. Muthukrishnan, M.A. Palathandayutham, M. Indrajith, and others took part.

Mannargudi
At Kalavaikarai in Mannargudi, farmers staged a road blockade under the leadership of Farmers’ Association office-bearer Mahendran.
Thiruthuraipoondi MLA K. Marimuthu, along with Farmers’ Association union secretaries P. Soundararajan (CPI), P. Angels (CPM), Thangavel (ML), and others, took part in the road blockade held at the Kottur bus stand.
During the blockade protest, when Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister Vinod spoke to MLA Marimuthu over his mobile phone, he invited them to come for talks on these demands, which are to be held on Thursday at the Secretariat in Chennai.
In the Kottur union, farmers’ association members also staged road blockades in Thirupathur, Thattanakovil, Athisappuram Curve, Kalappal, Perugavazhnthan, Thirumakkottai, Vikrapandiyam, and Sendangudi.
