Farmers stage sit-in protest over rejection of drought relief

Farmers on Thursday staged a sit-in protest at the grievance redressal meeting at the Collectorate here after their demands for declaration of five blocks in the district as drought-affected areas and compensation were rejected.

A farmers group led by K. Premkumar of Villiseri staged the protest as their demand for drought relief over the past six months was rejected by officials.

Collector Vishu Mahajan said the district administration had conducted a detailed study based on factors such as average rainfall, actual rainfall received during the previous year, crop yield data and other guidelines for identifying drought-hit areas. The statistical data available for Thoothukudi district did not meet the prescribed criteria for declaring the areas drought-affected. Hence, the district administration could not recommend the proposal to the State government.

However, the farmers rejected the explanation, contending that nearly 1.5 lakh farmers had been severely affected by drought, and continued their protest After holding talks with officials, they withdrew their protest and returned to their seats.

Several other demands. including compensation for farmers who carried out restoration works in water bodies damaged during 2023 floods, were raised at the meeting.

The farmers also urged the Tamil Nadu government to fulfill its election promise to waive crop loans, saying they had been affected by rising input cost, falling crop prices and repeated natural calamities, and issue new loans,

They further sought permanent measures to address the wild boar menace, water supply to Kadambakulam and immediate repair of breaches caused by the 2023 floods in Uppar Odai and Korampallam tank.

Officials said that compensation for flood restoration works would be released soon. Repair works on flood damaged breaches in Uppar Odai and Korampallam tank would begin shortly, and traps were being prepared to capture wild boars, and the devices would be distributed across all blocks.

District Revenue Officer M. Guruchandran, District Forest Officer M. Ilayaraja, Joint Director of Agriculture Department Krishnakumar and other officials were present.