Farmers body urges the DMK to drop its demand to form Mekedatu tribunal

P.R. Pandian, president of the Coordination Committee of All Farmers Associations of Tamil Nadu, on Sunday urged the DMK to drop its demand for the formation of a tribunal on Mekedatu, stating that it would jeopardise the farmers of the State.

Speaking to reporters here, he said the recent resolution adopted in the Assembly, which incorporated a key amendment moved by Leader of the Opposition Udayanidhi Stalin seeking the formation of a new tribunal over the proposal to build a balancing reservoir at Mekedatu, was against the law and farmers’ interests.

The coordination committee, Mr. Pandian said, had welcomed the DMK’s move to bring an adjournment motion on the Mekedatu issue in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. However, farmers were against the move demanding the formation of a tribunal on Mekedatu. If the DMK went ahead with this, it would go against the Supreme Court direction that no reservoir or new dams should be built without the permission of lower riparian States. It was contrary to the final verdict of the Cauvery Tribunal as well. Hence, the DMK should refrain from its demand for the formation of Mekedatu tribunal, he added., while voicing its protest in Parliament against the construction of a dam across the Cauvery at Mekedatu.

Mr. Pandian said around 6.31 lakh acres were brought under cultivation in the Cauvery delta in the kuruvai season in 2025. This had shrunk to 2 lakh acres this year. Questions were also raised on the possibilities of raising paddy during the samba period. Hence, the State government should form a high-level committee to inspect the affected areas, he added.