The police rounded up more than 900 cadre of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), including women, when they attempted to stage road roko agitations at various places in the city to protest against the continued lifting of silt from the Kacharayan lake in Edappadi constituency, for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.
The DMK cadre have been protesting against the permission accorded by the district administration for the lifting of silt from the lake. They alleged that cadre belonging to the AIADMK (Amma) were being allowed to desilt as it was the Chief Minister’s constituency and this could endanger the lake, which had been desilted only recently.
The talks held by the revenue and police officials on Tuesday ended in a stalemate, and the official sources had hinted at fresh negotiations on Wednesday in the presence of the District Collector. The meeting was not held and no reason was given.
A large number of DMK cadre gathered in front of the collectorate and a delegation led by R. Rajendran, MLA and secretary of the Salem central district of the unit party, and G. Soodamani, former Mayor, presented petition to the officials at the collectorate urging steps to prevent ruling party cadre from damaging the lake. Later, cadre belonging to the East district unit, led by Veerapandi A. Raja, also presented a petition to the officials.
The partymen, raising slogans against the Chief Minister, attempted a road roko. Police rounded up 170 of them. Another batch of 33 partymen were rounded up at Ammapettai.
The DMK members attempted to proceed to Konganapuram where the lake is located. But they were intercepted at the Magudanchavadi junction, where they attempted a road roko. The police rounded up 160 of them, including former Minister T. M. Selvaganapathi.
The police also rounded up DMK cadre from Mettur, Kolathur, Mecheri, Taaramangalam, Attur, Ethapur, Yercaud, Jalagandapuram and other centres. All of them were released in the evening.
Removal of silt continues
Meanwhile, people continued to lift the silt from the Kacharayankuttai lake. A strong police force led by P. Rajan, Superintendent of Police, was present in Konganapuram to prevent any untoward incident. T. Senthil Kumar, DIG of Police, Salem range, also visited Konganapuram to monitor the situation. The police have set up barricades on the roads leading to Konganapuram.
Speaking to presspersons in the city, Mr. Rajendran said that Mr. Stalin will visit the Kacharayan lake at Konganapuram as per schedule on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, in a press release issued here, Karattur K. K. Mani, president of the Konganapuram union level committee of the AIADMK, said that he had applied to Edappadi tahsildar on June 23 seeking permission for lifting silt from the Kacharan lake.
Permission was granted on July 4 and the soil lifting work was launched on July 5. He said the DMK was trying to create a rift in the farming community for making political gains.