TRICHY: Keeping up their demand for the formation of the Cauvery Management Board, the farmers in Trichy on Friday partially buried themselves in the sand on the banks of the Cauvery river. The farmers have been vociferously demanding the formation of the board.


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In a recent meeting, the farmers' representatives had urged the State government to file a contempt petition before the apex court if the Centre failed to comply with the February 16 order. 


The farmers had hailed the Supreme Court decision where it asked the Central government to form the Cauvery board to implement a formula for sharing water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for 15 years. Calling the judgement historic, the farmer leader PR Pandian had said: "In a way, this is a historical judgment where the apex court has said no state can claim ownership over a river. The Central government should now nationalise the rivers."


Farmer leader Ayyakannu was among those present at the protest site. Ayyakannu along with a group of other farmers conducted a 100-day rally to bring to notice the issues faced by the farmers. During his rally, he has been meeting the public and distributing pamphlets related to the demands of the farmers. These demands include waiver for crop loans, better price for agriculture produce, pension for elderly farmers.


He was also slapped by a BJP worker who got angry when the farmer leader was allegedly distributing pamphlets criticising the Central government. BJP leader Nellaiyammal had even showed her slipper to Ayyakannu. The incident had taken place outside the premises of Sri Subramania Swamy Temple in Chennai.