Rain devastates Nagapattinam district

Due to a breach in the Rajendran channel at Thalachankadu in Tarangambadi taluk in the morning, rain  water surrounded over 300 houses in the area, said tahsildar Murugesan. PWD officials have taken steps to plug the breach, he added. 

In Vaitheeswarankoil area, more than 300 houses have been inundated due to the breach in Tirunagari channel, said officials. 

People residing in Vilakkumukkutheru and Therkkuveli areas of Vaitheeswarankoil have been evacuated and relocated in relief camps. 

At Tarangambadi, Dansborg, the 400year old fort built by the Danish on the seafront, is surrounded by water. Accompanied by Nagapattinam District Collector C Sureshkumar, Tamil Nadu Handlooms Minister OS Manian visited the rain-hit areas in the district and inspected relief works.  Thalaignayiru, Vedaranyam and Nagapattinam Taluks in the district too have been experiencing heavy rains. More than 10,000 fishermen did not venture into the sea for the fifth consecutive day. Salt production in Vedaranyam area has come to a standstill as salt pans in 10,000 acres of land have been submerged. 

Samba and Thalady paddy crops raised in over 75,000 hectares out of the total 1.28 lakh hectares have also been submerged in the district.  

“Predominantly, machine transplantation was adopted in the district. Crops of very short height were transplanted only a couple of weeks ago. They remain totally submerged and they might soon start decaying, if rains continue to batter or water remains stagnant,” said Arupathy Kalyanam, general secretary of the Federation of Farmers Associations of Delta districts.