Farmers must organise themselves and stage a peaceful, non-violent protest against the ongoing land acquisition for the proposed Salem-Chennai eight-lane highway project, said Rajendra Singh, renowned water conservationist, popularly known as the ‘Waterman of India.’ Speaking to the media after a consultation meeting organised by the Tamil Nadu River Retrieval Movement on restoration of the Vaigai river here on Thursday, he said, “Farmers must sit on their land and say we will not allow its acquisition,” he said.
Criticising the proposed highway project, he said that the country was only creating roads in the name of development because construction of roads bring a lot of money to certain people.
Stating that roads were not the only form of development, he said that protection of waterbodies was more important. “We are not giving land for waterbodies or rivers. We are encroaching them. However, we are giving away land for roads,” he said.
On the ‘attractive’ compensation being offered to the farmers for giving away their land, he said that it was being done in the interest of those constructing the roads. “Only if you give so much money to the farmers, you can take a percentage for yourself,” he alleged.
T. Gurusamy, coordinator, Tamil Nadu River Retrieval Movement, elaborated on the committees formed for restoration of the Vaigai and strategies to be adopted in Madurai, Theni and Dindigul districts for the same.
A group of farmers belonging to Pennycuick Double Crop Irrigation Farmers and Waterbodies Protection Association made a representation to Mr. Singh for their movement against the proposed Outer Ring Road project in Madurai for which hundreds of acres of fertile agricultural land had been earmarked for acquisition.