LBP ryots picket PWD office

Keelbhavani irrigation farmers besieged the Public Works Department Office  in Erode to press the government to start the long pending LBP modernization project immediately.Tamil Nadu Farmers l Association district President S Periyasamy said for the past 60 years the Keelbhavani Irrigation Canal and the dam were not maintained. We have been claiming that the canal should be maintained as breaches in the canal were on the rise and water did not reach the tail end areas. During the DMK  period, a committee headed by Mohanakrishnan, a senior engineer in the Public Works Department, was set up to renovate the Keelbhavani canal.Then, the AIADMK rule decided to concertise the canal  and following some opposition, former CM EPS brought some changes in the plan and allocated Rs 7 10 crore for the work. 

 Now, the DMK came to power and the work on repairing canals and broken bridges was planned only in the affected areas.  The ministers did not call on the farmers to implement the project but instead held talks with those opposing the modernization plan.  A conference of farmers' unions opposing the project was attended by DMK state environment department chief Karthikeya Sivasenapathi. 

 The PWD officials, it seems, were in favour of those opposing modernisation plan and initiate some repair works and build bridges  It is ten days since the water supply was stopped in the canal and water should be released from August 15. Before that we want the PWD to start the renovation  work of the canal immediately. 

 At least 29 km of canal should be concretised as already agreed in the plan.  No. Then only, the water would reach tail end areas of the ayacut without delay and further breaches in the earthen canal could be checked, he said.

 Till the demand is accepted,  their stir would continue, he said. Farmers leaders KV Ponnaiyan, Selvam, Vadivelu, Ramasamy and Thangaraja attended.