Around 130 farmers, including the leaders of various farmers associations, were arrested today when they tried to stage a rail roko protest, demanding solution to the problems that were driving them to commit suicide.

Led by C. Thangaraj, president of Apolitical Farmers Association, the farmers gathered at the railway station to block a train. But they were arrested by the police.

The farmers said that inability to repay the loans borrowed from the banks was one of the main reasons why many of them were ending their lives, as agriculture had now become
non-remunerative.

If this was not bad enough, many were troubled by the GAIL pipelines and its impact on farming, which would further worsen the situation. They demanded that the government lay the pipelines along the highways and leave the fields alone.