Farmers welcome move to expedite river linking project, studies on building barrages
Farmers in Tamil Nadu have expressed support for the state government's decision to expedite the Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar river interlinking project. While some leaders noted the initial budget allocation is small, they welcomed the move to revive the long-stalled infrastructure project.
Why it matters
This project is critical for water management and irrigation in water-scarce southern regions of Tamil Nadu, directly impacting agricultural livelihoods.
The State government’s Budgetary announcement on expediting river interlinking project, especially the Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar river link project, and the proposals for carrying out feasibility studies for building barrages across the River Cauvery and ecological restoration of the Cauvery Delta have largely found favour with farmers’ organisations in the central region.
“Though the allocation of just ₹150 crore for the Cauvery-Gundar project is meagre, we welcome it, as the government has taken the project into consideration after it was in cold storage for the past five years,” said G.S. Dhanapathy, State General Secretary, Farmer’s Forum of India, commenting on the State Budget proposals. He suggested that the government could seek funds for the project from the Centre or even raise a loan from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development for executing the project.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in