Farmers rejoice in Cumbum valley
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Women taking aarathi to the statue of Penny Cuick at his memorial near Gudalur in Theni district on Friday.— PHOTO: G. KARTHIKEYAN
With water level touching 142 feet in Mullaperiyar dam as the culmination of a historic legal struggle, farmers in the Cumbum Valley burst into celebration on Friday.
Uthamapalayam, Cumbum and Gudalur wore a festive look as lawyers, commoners and government officials joined the farmers to celebrate the historic event. Lawyers of Uthamapalayam kick-started the festivities with a ‘victory march’ from the local court to the PWD office. They garlanded the statue of British engineer Penny Cuick, responsible for constructing the reservoir to stave off farmers in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu from starvation, burst crackers and distributed sweets.
Uthamapalayam Bar Association president Basheer and Chinnamanur Municipality standing counsel V.T. Singaravelan termed it a victory for a 35-year-long battle.
The celebrations touched a peak in Cumbum with people bursting crackers on the highway, even as the PWD engineers too joined them. Chief Engineer V. Pande planted a sapling at Penny Cuick’s memorial and garlanded his statue. Engineers distributed sweets to farmers who took part in the celebration, in which Executive Engineers and other officials from Madurai and Theni districts also took part.
The memorial near the Lower Camp was the cynosure of all eyes, decorated with festoons and colourful lights since last night.
In the evening, a team of AIADMK volunteers, led by Theni MP R. Parthiban and former MP S.P.M. Syed Khan, garlanded the statue and distributed sweets.
Representatives of farmers’ associations used this occasion to thank political leaders, public and members of various organisations who extended support for raising the water level to 142 feet.
They also appealed to the people of Kerala to extend their support to restore the full level of 152 feet as it would be mutually beneficial.
While the authorities have now begun discharging the excess inflows from Mullaperiyar in a bid to maintain the water level just below the 142-feet mark, farmers’ representatives reasoned that it would be a win-win situation for people of both States.
Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/farmers-in-cumbum-valley-rejoice/article6623859.ece
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