Tiruchy: Vehicular traffic on the busy Lalgudi area near Tiruchy on Monday, came to a standstill for about three hours, as scores of farmers of Lalgudi area, led by Puliyur Nagarajan, State president of the Farmers wing of the Tamil Manila Congress and P. Ayyakannu, State president of the Desiya Then India Nathigal Inaippu Vivasayeegal Sangam, P.R. Pandiyan, president of the coordinating committee of all farmers association resorted to road roko with the dead body of a woman farmer of Sembarai village who committed suicide following crop failure.
Police said that the woman farmer Lakshmi (45), committed suicide by consuming pesticide at her home in Sembarai on Sunday. The agitated farmers received body after the post-mortem, but placed it on the busy four-roads junction and blocked the road, demanding that the woman farmer’s family should be given Rs 10 lakh as compensation. The protesting leaders also demanded a government job for a member of her family, Rs 30,000 per acre of paddy, 'one lakh per acre of banana crop, and Rs 50,000 per acre of sugarcane as compensation.
Mr Nagarajan and Mr. Ayyakannu told DC that so far 46 farmers in the Cauvery delta area have either committed suicide or died of shock due to crop failure this year, adding, it was high time that both the Centre and Tamil Nadu Governments came to the rescue of the farming community.
On information, police and revenue officials rushed to the spot and persuaded the agitators to leave with an assurance that the farmers demands will be taken to the State government’s notice for “proper and immediate remedy”.
ANOTHER FARMER DIES IN TIRUVARUR
Meanwhile, another tragic instance of a farmer dyeing came to the fore on Monday, as a 45-year-old ryot who took part in the CPI farmers associations led picketing stir in front of district collector’s office at Tiruvarur swooned during the agitation.
He was rushed to the Government Medical College hospital there where doctors declared him ‘brought dead’, sources told DC.
The deceased farmer was identified as Mahalingam of Kovilur near Muthupet in Tiruvarur district. The agitators placed the body of the deceased farmer in front of the Collectorate there, refusing to take his body till Monday late evening.
