Tamil Nadu, reeling under one of the worst draughts to hit the State in recent times, is in for the ‘Agni Nakshathram’ season from Thursday. As the name itself indicates, it is going to be hot and humid days which will see the mercury crossing the 40-degree Celsius mark for the next one month.
Even as the Tamil Nadu Government led by Edappadi Palaniswamy is immersed in salvaging the reputation of the AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran who has been sent to Tihar Jail in New Delhi in connection with the criminal case of attempting to bribe Election Commission of India officials, more than two million farmers spread across the State are left to face their own fates.
“The State Government has failed to take up policy initiatives which could have addressed some of our burning issues. But no Governments during the last five decades has done anything to resolve the crisis faced by us, namely water and cattle,” said RV Giri, president, Consortium of Indian Farmers’ Associations (CIFA).
Farmer leaders like Kattumannarkoil Kannan and Arpathi Kalyanam, usually reticent in their criticism of the government, came out openly on the eve of ‘Agni Nakshathram’ season and lambasted the authorities for their consecutive failures in keeping the promises they had made to the farmers.
The farming community is upset over the possibility of yet another crop failure in 2017. Farm lands in the Cauvery Delta , described as the Rice Bowl of Tamil Nadu wear the look of deserts due to severe shortage of water.
“Tamil Nadu is a rain surplus State which records 99 cm rainfall every year. The five Delta districts record more than 100 cm every year. But the Governments failed to desilt the water tanks and build barrages and check-dams across rivers and drainage rivers in the State,” pointed out Kannan, vice-president, Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association.
He pointed out that had the tanks in the State been desilted and the series of check-dams and barrages been constructed, Tamil Nadu need not have fought with neighbouring States like Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh over water.
Giri said the State Government has not yet completed the linking of intra state rivers like Pennayar, Velayar, Kollidam and a number of other rivers.