Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) chief Thol Thirumavalavan on Thursday urged the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to convene an all-party meeting in their respective states to take a decision on organising a bandh against the non-release of Cauvery water for the lower riparian states by Karnataka government.
Addressing reporters at a press conference here, Thirumavalavan condemned the bandh in Karnataka called by several pro-Kannada organisations on October 6 against the release of water to Tamil Nadu.
Such an attitude on the part of Karnataka would erode the unity of the country when the delta farmers were dependent on the Cauvery water for cultivation, he said.
Political parties of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry should stand united in getting their share of Cauvery water. The Union Territory should support the bandh against non-release of water as the Karaikal region would get water only when Karnataka released it to Tamil Nadu, Thirumavalavan added.
The VCK leader also announced a ‘Cauvery Water Rights Yatra’ that would begin at Chidambaram on October 3 and conclude on October 4 at Tiruchy. The yatra, led by Thirumavalavan, would seek the immediate release of Cauvery water.
Further, he urged the government to provide `10,000 per acre to farmers of drought-hit areas in addition to 150 days of work for agricultural labourers under the MNREGA scheme.
Thirumavalavan also demanded that the Tamil Nadu government provide uninterrupted supply of power for at a minimum of twelve hours a day to delta farmers for cultivation of Samba crop as announced by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Thirumavalavan also regretted the “slow pace of rehabilitation of ethnic Tamils at the press meet.
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