Thanjavur: Farmers who will have to forego their agricultural land for building the barrage across the Kollidam river have demanded fair compensation as they accused PWD authorities of starting construction works without finalizing the land value for acquisition. About 204 acres near the proposed barrage will be required for constructing the barrage. Farmers alleged that even though the government had allocated Rs 31 crore, officials had announced a meagre amount as compensation.In November 2018, Rs 400 crore was allocated by the Tamil Nadu government for construction of a barrage across the Kollidam with head sluices at the downstream of the Lower Anaicut connecting Kumaramangalam in Nagapattinam district and Adhanur in Cuddalore district.As per the administrative approval accorded by the government, Rs 31.35 crore was sanctioned for land acquisition. The chief engineer, Chennai region, had assured that the land acquisition process would be completed before the work commenced. However, farmers alleged that PWD authorities had started works without finalizing the price of the land to be acquired. “Officials have fixed very low rate for the patta land. They are ready to give only a maximum of Rs 2 lakh per acre,” they added.“The 204 acres of agriculture land marked for acquisition is located on either side of the river banks. Farmers have been cultivating multi-cash crops like flowers, fruits, millets, vegetables, groundnuts, banana and trees like teak and casuarina. All of them earn around Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 per day,” Thanjavur District Cauvery Farmers Protection Association secretary Swamimalai S Vimalnathan said.“As farmers, we welcome the government’s efforts to construct the barrage which has been a longpending demand of farmers to save water going waste into the sea. Almost every farmer (who will be affected) holds half-an-acre, one acre or at the most two acres. If they vacate their holdings, they will automatically lose their income and livelihood too. No farmer should be affected while executing the project. They should be paid at least Rs 12 lakh per acre”, he said. As per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, all the affected farmers should be compensated reasonably, he further stated.R Viswanathan, 53, holding two acres, said he has been cultivating maize, chilli and flowers. “Since we have been demanding the barrage for a long time, we whole-heartedly welcome the move. However, as a patta holder, I should be compensated reasonably. If I hand over my land, I will lose my source of earning. The compensation should be as per the 2013 Act”, he added. Another farmer, B Baskar, whose 15 acre is going to be acquired, also echoed the same demand. “When farmers who give land for greenway lane are going to be compensated fairly, we also should be”, he said. The PWD special division handling the project was not available comment.

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