Farmers eat rat meat; demand that TN be declared drought hit

: Seeking to draw attention to their plight due to crop failure, farmers here today cooked and ate rat meat and demanded that the entire state of Tamil Nadu be declared drought affected.

The farmers, under the aegis of Tiruchirapalli Farmers Association, said they had been driven to this extreme step as all their crops had withered.

They said the entire state, especially Delta districts, was in the grip of extreme drought due to failure of the monsoon and non release of water from the Cauvery river.

A number of farmers had committed suicide due to failure of crops, they said and demanded that the entire state be declared drought affected.