Villagers protest against the extraction of water from the wells in Lakshmipuram. Express
Amid the AIADMK split and possible merger, former chief minister O Panneerselvam has also been firefighting on a different front. More than 1,000 residents of Panneerselvam’s drought-hit village near Theni in southern Tamil Nadu have started a protest after tonnes of litres of water from open wells in his family property were found to have been transported to irrigate his 200-acre farmhouse in a neighbouring village.
At the peak of the political crisis, Panneerselvam and his family promised the villagers that the property and wells would be handed over to the village. The villagers thanked him and started a massive fund-raising drive to purchase the land.
That was two weeks ago. On Tuesday, the villagers took to the streets when they found that Panneerselvam had transferred the property — owned by Panneerselvam’s wife P Vijayalakshmi — to one Subburaj, his aide and friend who allegedly owns benami properties of the politician’s family.
The issue came up two months ago, at the peak of summer, when the villagers learnt that Panneerselvam’s family was digging a third well in the property, which lies on the banks of Varattaru river in Lakshmipuram village. Karthikeyan, former president of Lakshmipuram panchayat, told The Indian Express that the villagers protested as the transportation of water from the open wells had dried borewells in the neighbourhood.
Karthikeyan said they had four rounds of talks with the OPS family and one with OPS himself. “On July 13, OPS promised he would hand over the land to the people. But it was an eyewash. When they delayed the documentation, we found that he had transferred the land from his wife’s name to Subburaj on July 12. He had promised to give it for free, but we had refused,” he said.
After the initial talks, the village went on a massive fundraising spree. After the villagers insisted that they would pay for the property, Karthikeyan alleged, the family demanded Rs 12 crore for 40 acres (including other plots attached to the wells). “We finally fixed the price at Rs 6 crore (based on market rate of Rs 15 lakh per acre). We started raising funds from all 2,000 families in the village,” he said. “We collected Rs 3.45 crore in a few days. Three hundred labourer families could not contribute, while some landholders contributed up to Rs 5 lakh. We also requested villagers working abroad. A total of Rs 6 crore was collected. But we did not know that OPS had other plans.”
According to a revenue official, two huge wells in the property are themselves a violation as the rules prevent wells within 200 metres of a river. However, the official said, the PWD department — a portfolio Panneerselvam had held as minister — changed the document and categorised the river as a dry stream. “An internal inquiry has been ordered,” the official said.
Panneerselvam refuted the benami allegations linked to Subburaj as well as land record violations. “When I agreed to sell the land at market price, the villagers decided on Rs 15 lakh per acre without my consent. I could easily have got Rs 20 lakh an acre. This forced me to write the land in the name of Subburaj. But I promised them that if they agree to a reasonable price and come up with the money, we would sell it. This is essentially to tarnish my name,” he said.
