THENI
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin should respond to the farmers’ grievance on the Mullaperiyar dam row as there was every possibility that many southern districts may turn into a desert due to the ‘wrong policies’ of the government, according to BJP State president K. Annamalai.
Leading a party demonstration in front of the Theni Collectorate, condemning the State government ‘for letting down the farmers’ rights,’ he said that the land coverage in the five districts — Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga — accounted for 2.41 lakh acres.
When the storage was 142 feet in the Mullaperiyar dam, 1.70 lakh acres received water for irrigation, whereas with the storage leve; of 136 ft, only 71,000 acres received water for irrigation, he said.
With the rights vested with the ayacut farmers in the five districts on drawing water from the dam, it was shocking to see the Kerala government releasing water, he said wondering “if a government is functioning”.
The CM had the bounden duty to clarify to the people on the “U” turn by the Kerala government on the felling of trees near Idukki dam.
Assuring the farmers that the BJP would be with them and protect their rights, he urged MDMK general secretary Vaiko, an ally of the DMK, to come together to fight against the Kerala government.
Similarly, he also suggested the Madurai Lok Sabha MP Su Venkatesan to focus on the farmers’ issues and take it up with his party in Kerala than writing letters to Union Ministers on other issues.