Two farmers drown in irrigation tank near Tiruvannamalai- NSP NEWS

Neighbours and family members found the two farmers’ clothes on the tank bund.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Two farmers drowned in an irrigation tank at Kottaiyur village near Thandrampet in Tiruvannamalai on Thursday.

Police said K. Subramani, 42 and his relative V. Elumalai, 37, went fishing in the irrigation tank, which is maintained by the Water Resources Department, on Wednesday evening. As they did not return home, neighbours and family members started looking for them. They found their clothes on the bund of the tank, which is around 25 feet deep.

Immediately, they alerted Vannappuram police and fire fighters from Thandrampet. They were unable to locate them. At around 11 a.m. on Thursday, a few dairy farmers who took their cattle to the tank found the bodies of the two farmers near the tank. They alerted the police, who shifted the bodies to Government Medical College Hospital in Tiruvannamalai. A case has been filed.

Initial inquiry revealed that the tank, auctioned for fishing by PWD years ago, was stopped when bidders from two villages clashed over fishing in the tank. Since then, the PWD has not auctioned the tank for fishing. However, due to the growth of fish in the tank, many farmers try to catch fish in the tank to supplement their income, police said.