“Flow of water in Tamirabharani has dwindled a lot”

Condemning the supply of Tamirabharani water to the soft drink manufacturing units at Gangaikondan Industrial Promotion Centre near here, members of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam stood in the knee-deep water of the perennial river at Sindhupoondurai in Tirunelveli Junction for a while on Monday to highlight their demand.

The protestors, led by State secretary of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, Shanmugam, entered the Tamirabharani and raised slogans. They said the flow of water in the Tamirabharani had dwindled in an unprecedented manner and the river had dried up in a few tail-end areas due to monsoon failure and continuing dry spell in the catchment areas.

Consequently, supply of drinking water to the residents of Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Virudhunagar districts remained affected for the past few months. However, based on a “wrong” affidavit filed by the Public Works Department in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court that claimed that only surplus water in the Tamirabharani was being given to the soft drink units, the court had allowed the supply of Tamirabharani water to these companies.

Besides taking action against the officials who had filed the affidavit in the court with “wrong” information, the State Government should make an appeal in the higher court to repeal this order, the protestors said.

They made it clear that agitation against giving water from the Tamirabharani would continue until the demand was met.

District secretaries of Communist Party of India (Marxist) K.G. Bhaskaran of Tirunelveli, Perumal of Thoothukudi and good number of women participated in the protest.