Cauvery flows through Dharmapuri, but still water tops the agenda of all political parties.
DHARMAPURI: Cauvery flows through this arid land, yet water tops the agenda in Dharmapuri. Four decades after Congressman Kamaraj Nadar promised a project to pump in water from Cauvery to this backward region in western Tamil Nadu, the assurances continue.
The Hogenakkal Comprehensive Water Scheme was conceived in the early 1960s, but not much has happened. Since then, the drought prone district has witnessed Naxal activities, the Veerappan saga and migration of unemployed farm labourers, who largely end up as construction workers in the tech hub of Bangalore.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi has assured that the water project would be taken up on a war footing, if the Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) is voted to power.
Not one to take things lying down, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief J Jayalalithaa has assured implementation of the project if the party regains Fort St George. AIADMK had won two – Morappur and Palacode – seats of the five constituencies in the district that has a low literacy and a high infant mortality rate.
The Pattali Makkal Katchi had won two seats – Pennagaram and Dharmapuri, while the CPI bagged Harur constituency. The total number of voters in Dharmapuri district is 10,11,489, including 5,03,057 men and 5,08,432 women.
In the previous polls of 2001, the runner up in all the seats has been a DMK candidate and observers say the DPA may gain with its arithmetic.
The AIADMK has fielded Vanniyars in Palacode and Pennagaram, where the community has a large base, leaving the other three seats to its allies.
“Our main issue is to bring the Hogenakkal water to the entire district,” MDMK candidate for Dharmapuri V Sampath said. The other demand is to turn the entire district into a horticulture hub, besides making the region an attractive destination for industrial activity, taking advantage of the proximity to Bangalore, about 150 kms away.
The DPA is also stoking memories of the burning of three girls by AIADMK supporters in 2000.
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