Farmers Protest Land Acquisition for Nandan Link Canal in Tiruvannamalai

The Story in Brief

Farmers from villages near Sathanur dam protested in Tiruvannamalai on Thursday against land acquisition for the proposed Nandan Link Canal project. Residents told The Hindu that revenue officials had surveyed villages and marked land despite objections submitted by owners. The Water Resources Department has identified around 355 acres across 14 villages along the 28.95-km route to Samudram village. Officials say the project will revive the defunct Nandan Canal with surplus Northeast monsoon rainwater, raise groundwater levels and expand cultivation. The canal will be built in two phases, linking Sathanur dam, Pachal and Samudram lake. Farmers fear losing agricultural land and their livelihoods.

The Indian Opinion

The lazy version of this dispute casts farmers as anti-development, while another treats every canal as an automatic public good. Neither is adequate. A project meant to restore irrigation must first show that its route, compensation and water gains justify taking cultivated land. Officials should publish village-wise surveys, objections and rehabilitation terms before work advances. The useful test is simple: how many acres will the canal add to irrigation, and how many farming families will lose land?

Source: thehindu.com

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Rabindranath TagoreGandhiMuhammad Ali JinnahB. R. AmbedkarJawaharlal NehruVinayak Damodar SavarkarSubhas Chandra Bose

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