Frequent rains play spoilsport in mending salt pans in Thoothukudi
With maintenance works due, the incessant waterlogging has badly affected the salt businesses ahead of the harvest season (late January - February).
Salt pans in Thoothukudi
MADURAI: Surprise showers that lashed the southern districts during the northeast monsoon in the last quarter of 2024 posed serious problems to manufacturers in resetting their salt pans in Thoothukudi.
With maintenance works due, the incessant waterlogging has badly affected the salt businesses ahead of the harvest season (late January - February).
“A few were planned to take up the maintenance in December, but a sudden heavy downpour forced them to put it off. If this persists, reaping season will start only in March,” MP Dileep, a Thoothukudi-based salt manufacturer, told DT Next.
Former secretary of the Tuticorin Small Scale Salt Manufacturers Association ARAS Dhanabalan expressed the hope that the repair works could begin in mid-January if rains withdraw from now.
“The frequent showers following December 13's sharp rain put many manufacturers in despair. In 2023, the new season took off only in May, which led to a drop in production by 50 per cent,” he pointed out.
Michael Motha, salt manufacturer-cum-exporter, said Thoothukudi received about 10 to 12 cm of rain a few weeks ago, causing inundation in most of the pans.
“Manufacturers usually undertake repairs and maintenance in December after the withdrawal of the monsoon. As the northeast monsoon became intense, it brought torrential rains in December, thus delaying the maintenance. Only when the pans are dried can repairs be made. It’s the same as December 2023 when most of the pans were washed away by devastating floods,” he recalled.
According to S Petchimuthu, a manufacturer, salt production kicks off after the Pongal festival, but with the delays in restoring the pans, production might be delayed by a month this year.
“The average rainfall in Thoothukudi is 662 mm, and the northeast monsoon accounts for two-thirds of the district’s average. Heavy rains in the Tamil month Karthigai and the subsequent weeks made the restoration works impossible,” rues SKCN Dharmaraj, another manufacturer.
