CPI urges govt. to declare delta districts as drought-hit

Members of the Communist Party of India stage a protest near the Tiruchi District Collectorate, demanding that the Cauvery delta districts be declared drought-hit districts in Tiruchi on Friday. | Photo Credit: R. VENGADESH The Communist Party of India (CPI) has urged the State government to declare the delta districts as drought affected in view of non-release of Cauvery water from the Mettur dam impacting the kuruvai cultivation season due to which the coverage of paddy got reduced substantially. The party has urged the State government to provide ₹30,000 per acre as compensation for those farmers who had suffered heavy losses during kuruvai cultivation season due to water shortage. It wanted the government to provide ₹15,000 as relief to the agricultural labourers of the delta region who were rendered jobless in view of the drought-like situation. It urged the government to waive the crop loans as promised; take special measures to provide rice and other essential commodities to all those families in the drought-hit areas and take steps on a war footing to tackle the drinking water shortage prevailing in several villages and ensure steady supply of drinking water to them. A section of CPI members staged a demonstration in support of its demands in Tiruchi on Friday. The demonstration was held near the District Collectorate for nearly an hour. In Nagapattinam, a group of CPI members, led by party’s former State secretary R. Mutharasan and Nagapattinam Lok Sabha member V. Selvaraj, submitted a memorandum to the Nagapattinam Collector K.J. Praveen Kumar at the District Collectorate. Published - August 28, 2026 06:56 pm IST