Cauvery row: ‘Rail roko’ protests rock Tamil Nadu; over 2,500 held

Chennai : Opposition parties, including the DMK, on Monday joined a state-wide rail blockade protest announced by a farmer’s federation over the Cauvery issue, urging the Centre to set up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).
DMK Treasurer and Opposition Leader in Tamil Nadu Assembly MK Stalin was among those who participated in the protests held in different parts of the state, including Chennai and the Cauvery delta districts.
Stalin led a procession at Perambur here, even as scores of political workers belonging to the DMK, Left parties and MDMK among others staged a ‘rail roko’ at Thanjavur and Cuddalore, and were detained.
A farmers’ federation had called for the two-day rail blockade starting today, urging the Centre to immediately constitute the CMB.
The protests come days after a high-level technical team, set up by the Supreme Court, completed its inspection of the Cauvery basin region in Tamil Nadu to assess the situation in the state.
The team, which also inspected the Cauvery basin in Karnataka, is set to submit its report in the apex court today.
The apex court had set up the team while hearing a petition by the Tamil Nadu government seeking release of Cauvery water by Karnataka.
Meanwhile, reports from Madurai said, train services in Madurai and Tiruchirappalli divisions were affected as hundreds of farmers and members of various political parties blocked or attempted to block the rail traffic at various places, demanding constitution of the Cauvery Management Board.
Officials said trains were delayed by 10 minutes to half an hour.
Madurai City Police resorted to lathicharge to disperse a strong crowd belonging to various Opposition parties, when they insisted on staging a rail roko and attempted to enter the railway junction here, they said. Around five persons suffered simple injuries in the lathi charge.
Leader of South Indian River Linking Movement, Ayyakannu was arrested at Kudamurutti Kudisai while he blocked the rail tracks on Tiruchi-Karur section.
Party members and farmers put up a hut on the track to block the train near Kudamurutti.
Hundreds of DMK cadres blocked the train traffic in Pudukottai.
In Cuddalore, over 700 farmers and cadres of political parties tried to enter the railway station for staging a rail roko agitation. The police had to resort to mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd.Nearly 300 persons were arrested, the police said.
In Erode district, several farmers and Opposition party workers who attempted to enter the Erode Railway Station were arrested by the police.