Vaiko seeks relief to gale-hit farmers

In a statement, Vaiko said, “In the gale that blew few days ago in Tirunelveli district, several lakh plantain crop and several hundreds of coconut trees were damaged. Farmers in more than 40 villages in Nanguneri, Radhapuram, Sivagiri and Kadayanallur have lost their trees.”

Recently, Cyclone Fani formed in the Bay of Bengal and due to the cyclone there was gale in southern districts. In the gale, several lakh trees were uprooted.

Vaiko said that even the advanced scientific equipment could not detect the natural calamity for which farmers were totally unprepared. 

“Apart from the crops, several farmers had lost their huts. The cultivation was in the final stages and farmers were in the belief that they could see revenue but were totally upset with the unexpected gale,” said Vaiko.

He also said that usually the compensation gets delayed but in this case the state should carry out survey immediately and disburse suitable relief to farmers.

He said that many rare species of foreign birds in Koonthankulam bird sanctuary have died and the state should undertake repair works there.