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Team on mission to assess rain havoc in delta

Tiruchi Bureu

Officials and farmers give detailed descriptions of crops damaged in floods

INTERACTION: The Central Team members Anjuli Chandra (third from left) and Dinesh Chand (extreme left) interacting with farm women about the crop damage at Maniyambalam in Pudukottai district on Tuesday. The District Collector P. Sonai (second from l eft) looks on. — Photo: M. Moorthy.

PUDUKOTTAI : The Central team members — Dinesh Chand, Deputy Advisor, Department of Drinking Water Supply and Anjuli Chandra, Director (D II), Central Electricity Authority, Ministry of Power — on Tuesday visited a few flood-affected areas in Pudukottai district to get first-hand information about the extent of damage caused by the heavy downpour recently.

Accompanied by Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department Secretary Vishwanath Shegaonkar, District Collector P. Sonai, District Rural Development Agency Project Officer, Madasamy, and senior officials from various departments, the two-member team began its tour, visiting Kudimianmalai where a bridge constructed across the Vellar river was washed away owing to flash floods recently. The bridge was on the Kudumianmalai-Ponnamaravathy main road. The link to many villages had been cut off owing to the collapse of the bridge.

The team members, who spent some time at the site, ascertained information about the features of the bridge from the accompanying officials. Their next halt was in Maniyambalam panchayat in Thiruvarankulam block where a portion of the `Vallanadu' tank bund had breached owing to floods last week.

The `Vallanadu' tank is said to be the second biggest after Kavinadu tank in Pudukottai district. Following a breach, floodwater entered into several villages including Maniyambalam, Vandakottai and Poovarasakudi villages which were the ayacuts thereby damaging the paddy crops raised by the farmers in those villages.

The administration officials informed the team members of the length of the damaged portion of the bund, besides the extent of crop damage at Maniyambalam. The members also saw the bund reconstruction work that was currently underway at the site. They also interacted with a few women of Maniyambalam in order to know about the damage to the crops caused by the breach.

The team members then visited Government High School at Vallathirakottai where a large number of flood-hit people were accommodated.

Before winding up their visit in Pudukottai district, the members went to Kulavaipatti near Aranthangi where a portion of the road linking Alangudi and Arimalam had been washed off following breach of Kulavaipatti minor irrigation tank.

Later, they left for Karaikudi in neighbouring Sivaganga district.

Thanjavur

The central team comprising J. P. S.Mehrotra, Deputy Commissioner, Fisheries, Union Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Dr. S. R. Reddy, Senior Regional Director, Ministry of Health, Chennai, visited flood affected areas in Thanjavur district and assessed the crop damage.

They saw submerged crop in paddyfields at Kallapuliyur eight km from Kumbakonam. Farmers who lost the crop explained that they were small farmers who raised the crop on one and two acres of land. The crop could not be salvaged as it remained under water for the past four days.

The team members later saw a breach at Manniyar and Kollidam at Kudikadu in Thiruvaiyaru taluk.

C. V. Shankar, Officer on Special Duty, Relief and Rehabilitation, and M. Veera Shanmugha Moni, Collector, accompanied the team members.

M. Jothi, Joint Director of Agriculture, said that samba crop on 71,000 hectares was submerged in the district. Out of these more than 50 per cent crop submersion was on 9000 hectares. This crop (on 9000 hectares) could not be saved.The central team visits Tiruvarur district tomorrow and assess crop damage.

Nagapattinam

The standing samba paddy crops in Nagapattinam district has suffered an extensive damage in the three spells of heavy rain and the floods caused by the heavy flow of water in Coleroon and other rivers in the district, said the team.

Talking to mediapersons after inspecting the major breach, which occurred on the Coleroon river at Alakkudi in Kollidam block in Nagapattinam district, the team members said that the damage to paddy crops was cent per cent and pointed out that the rain and floods had devastated several villages in the district.

Mr Mehrotra and Dr Reddy said that the team would submit a detailed report by Friday to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

After arrival at Mayiladuturai by helicopter, the team members were shown the damaged paddy crops at various places including Thirunandriyur up to Kollidam where J. Radhakrishnan, Nagapattinam Collector, made a power-point presentation at the Block Development Office in Kollidam in the presence of the Officer on Special Duty (Relief and Rehabilitation) and explained the nature of the natural calamity that devastated the district.

The Collector said that the farmers had invested nearly Rs.8,000 per acre for raising the paddy crops and pointed out that the crops in 82,000 hectares were fully damaged and 27,000 hectares partially affected by the heavy rains out of the 1.32 lakh hectares raised during the samba season in the district this year.

Representatives from farmer associations including Arupathi Kalyanam, general secretary of the Federation of Farmers Associations in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts, explained to the team members about the heavy loss incurred by the farmers in the delta.

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