Thursday, Sep 30, 2004
Thursday, Sep 30, 2004 |
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Tamil Nadu
By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau
A.K. Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, inspecting groundnut and paddy crops at Parandur in Kancheepuram district on Wednesday. The Chengalpattu MP, A.K. Moorthy, looks on. — Photo: A. Muralitharan
RAMANATHAPURAM, SEPT. 29. The Ramanathapuram Collector, K. Chellamuthu, has sent a proposal seeking a Rs. 104-crore compensation for the drought-hit district. The Collector, who accompanied a Central team which visited several areas to assess the impact of drought, said 70 per cent of cultivable land in the district was rain-fed. The severe drought conditions rendered 1,694 tanks dry and consequently crops cultivated on 1,53,877 hectares were affected. Among them were paddy on 1,01780 hectares, oilseeds on 12,845 hectares, pulses on 5,303 hectares, cotton on 4,400 hectares and sugarcane on 167 hectares. A total of 12,505 hectares of rain-fed land and 5,433 hectares irrigated by system tanks could not be cultivated. A total of 2,07,236 small and tiny farmers and 14,968 big landholders were affected. The team inspected Kamudhi, Mudimannarkottai, Valasubramaniyapuram, Perunazhi, Ponthampuli, Yerumaikulam, Pillayarkulam and Sayalkudi. The Special Commissioner and Commissioner of Revenue Administration, R. Santhanam, accompanied the team members, K. Manoharan, Director (in-charge), Directorate of Tobacco Development; D. Rajasekar, Assistant Advisor, Department of Drinking Water Supply; V. Venkatesan, Director, Ministry of Rural Development, and Sahdev Singh, Additional Commissioner (Horticulture), Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.
Plea in Tuticorin
The team later visited Tuticorin, Ottapidaram, Ettayapuram and Srivaikundam and interacted with farmers and locals. The farmers demanded waiver of interest on crop loans got from nationalised banks and wanted fresh loans to undertake farming. They demanded the Central team to ensure potable water by implementing drinking water schemes.
Groundwater depletion
Depletion of groundwater was the main grievance the people of Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts made to the Central team. Those living at Orathur near Thiruvalankadu in Tiruvallur district and Paranthur and Karai in Kancheepuram district expressed the fear that they might face acute scarcity, in view of excessive groundwater tapping of drinking water and for farming operations. Following monsoon failure, farmers deepened borewells from 100 to 200 feet and even to 300 feet in some places such as Kalakattur in Tiruvallur district. A similar grievance was aired by civic body representatives at Tiruttani, who said infiltration wells sunk at drinking water supply headworks on the Kosasthalaiyar river at Arunkulam, some 15 km away from the town, went dry. The civic body had entered into a contract with private patta landowners in the village to sink borewells and convey groundwater to the collector well and pump it to meet the drinking water needs of Tiruttani town. The civic body was able to provide drinking water supply only once a week. At Siruvallur in Kancheepuram district, the team visited a coconut grove where the crop withered for want of water. The owner told the team, headed by A.K. Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Agriculture, that while coconut trees in the one-two year age group totally withered, leaves of trees in the two-four age group had dried up. Talking to reporters, Mr. Agarwal said the data collected by the team and the views of farmers revealed that agriculture and drinking water requirements in these areas had been affected for the past three years. Most of the ayacuts, where cultivation should have been taken up by now, remained fallow, he said.
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