Tension prevailed for a while at the Collectorate here today as the activists of Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhgam (TMMK) and farmers owing allegiance to the Joint Movement of All Farmers’ Associations staged separate demonstrations urging the government to declare Tamil Nadu as drought-hit.

Led by its district secretary T Kamaraj, the TMMK activists raised slogans pressing their demands, which included distribution of Rs 25 lakh as compensation to the next kin of farmers who had died in grief following the failure of their crops; distribution of Rs 30,000 per acre to affected farmers and Rs 10,000 per month to the affected agriculture workers as drought relief. They also urged the State Government to take immediate measures to stop the farmers’ deaths.

Similarly, the farmers owing allegiance to the Joint Movement of All Farmers’ Associations staged a slogan-shouting demonstration pressing the same demands. They were led by the outfit’s State Vice-President R Sukumaran. Earlier, the farmers presented a petition to Collector A Annadurai, who chaired the public grievance redressal day programme held at the Collectorate.