Farmers stage protest in TN, seek steps to store surplus Cauvery water

Farmers of the Cauvery delta areas on Sunday staged a protest here seeking steps to prevent the flow of surplus water from the river into the sea, and demanded that barrages and a dam be constructed instead.

Led by farmer leader P R Pandian, the crop cultivators demanded that the state government construct a barrage every 5 km across Kollidam river (the northern distributary of the Cauvery) so that surplus Cauvery water would not drain into the sea. They also urged that a dam be constructed at Rasimanal near Hogenakkal.

Citing factors such as ground water depletion in areas close to the banks of the Kollidam river, they demanded that the government build multiple barrages. "We will not allow Cauvery water (surplus) draining into sea," they said, raising a slogan to oppose Karnataka's proposal to build the Mekedatu dam on its side.