The Perundurai police on Thursday arrested 13 farmers for opposing the erection of high tension (HT) electric towers through farm lands here.
The police arrested land owner Selvaraj and 12 others from Sampath Nagar. According to sources, more than 50 policemen were deployed in the area to ensure smooth implementation of the work.
562 towers
According to sources, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) will be erecting 562 towers between Rasipalayam in Coimbatore and Palvadi in Dharmapuri to transmit 400kV of power. According to officials, nearly 40 HT electric towers will be erected in the district and the farmers here have been opposing it.
On Thursday, when the Tangedco officials began the erection work at the farm of Selvaraj, he and other farmers opposed the move.
However, they were later arrested and removed by the police.
Selvaraj reportedly owns 18 acres of coconut farm in the area and the officials removed 37 coconut trees for erecting the tower.
Court direction
Mr. Selvaraj alleged, “I had filed a writ in Madras High Court against the project and hearing the case, the Court directed the department to continue work after paying me the compensation. I was also asked to approach the district court if, in case, the compensation was insufficient. However, I have not received the compensation till date.”
However, the Tangedco officials denied the allegations.
Compensation
They said that a compensation of ₹ 10,16,380 was offered to Selvaraj for 37 trees and a compensation of ₹41,434 was also offered for the 128 sq.m. of land. However, he refused to the accept the cheques.