We are not sure of getting adequate relief, say farmers

The farmers alleged that the central team neither interacted with the individuals nor did it meet the farmers’ representatives. “The entire exercise was a farce. We have no faith in the team,” said the farmers. Palanisamy, President, Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers Association, pointed out that the team visited places randomly and it did not take effort to assess the exact level of drought. 

“We are not confident that the Centre will announce adequate compensation because of its shoddy work,” they said. Palanisamy reiterated that after visiting the fields, the team should have had an interaction with farmers and their representatives. “Why did it avoid meeting us individually?” asked Palanisamy. 

Other farmers too seconded his opinion. Desilting of the Vaigai course was also discussed at the meeting. Farmers informed officials that desilting was important as it would help in increasing the flowing capacity and recharging the waterbodies near it. 

Rajamanickam from Vellaripatti, pointed out that Vaigai was a major source of water for the district. He explained that the river bed was rich in alluvial soil and when desilted this should be handed over to farmers. 

A PWD official told the gathering that a public sector company, WAPCOS, had carried out a study about different ways the Vaigai can be desilted. It had submitted a detailed project report to the government. The State government is making attempts to implement the recommendations of WAPCOS. “We hope the work will commence soon,” informed the official. 

Another major problem raised by farmers was the rampant growth of Seemai karuvelam trees that were killing several waterbodies. Farmers demanded the district administration to remove the plants completely from the district. 

Tirupathi, from Kulamangalam village, claimed that the water level in the districts had plummeted due to the presence of Seemai karuvelam, an invasive species. 

The only solution to reclaim our water resources is to weed out these trees completely from the district. This could be a major step in saving water for irrigation across the district, was the common idea mooted by the farmers Collector K Veera Raghav Rao replied that the Seemai karuvelam have been removed completely in the corporation, and soon it would be done in rural areas. Since, the drive in rural pockets would be a massive and time-consuming one, it would be done in a phased manner, assured the Collector.  

Out of nearly 645 villages, 618 have been affected by drought, informed K Veera Raghav Rao, Collector.

The Collector went on to say that close to 4,500 water bodies in the district have gone dry. It includes more than 3,000 panchayat union tanks and around 1,500 PWD lakes and tanks. Apart from that, 4,000 ponds have nil storage, said the Collector. Revenue and Agriculture department have conducted a joint survey of drought. The Collector explained that the problems of farmers were of two kinds. 

One, farmers did not go ahead with cultivation due to poor storage in the Vaigai dam and the other, crops they had sown failed due to poor monsoon. Ryots, who raised various crops, pinned their hopes on the northeast monsoon, but that too deceived them. Now, the entire district was staring at a severe drought.  The farmers congratulated the Collector for receiving the President’s medal for best SVEEP activities and presented shawls to him. They also requested the Collector to permit them to felicitate him.