PMK, BJP flay action against Melma farmers

Chennai: PMK and BJP have condemned the Tamil Nadu govt for what they called its oppressive action against farmers who have been staging protests urging the govt not to acquire farmland for the expansion of the Sipcot industrial estate at Cheyyar in Tiruvannamalai district. The farmers demanded that the government sack public works minister E V Velu and expunge his anti-farmer remarks in the just concluded session of the legislative assembly. In a statement, PMK founder leader S Ramadoss said police arrested more than 20 farmers protesting in front of the secretariat in Chennai. Ramadoss said farmers from 11 villages, including Melma, have been staging protests for more than 200 days to protest the govt’s decision to acquire 2,700 acres of farmlands for the expansion of the Cheyyar Sipcot project. TNN