Parvathy is at a loss. She has lost over five hectares of paddy crop, and her modest thatch-roof house with meagre belongings is flooded.
“I have lost over Rs. 20,000 worth of crops, my house is flooded, I don't have a place to cook or a place to lay my head; there hasn't been any word from the officials and I don't know what to do”, she says helplessly staring into nothingness.
Nidamangalam is a non-descript sleepy town in Thiruvarur district. It serves as the administrative headquarters for a cluster of over 71 villages and hamlets in the area, all dependent upon agriculture.
The northeast monsoon, like every other year, has wreaked havoc in the district killing eight people in the area, and destroying almost 200 huts.
A short walk away from the district headquarters leads to the villages and fields. For miles around there is nothing but water as far as the eye can see. The fury of the flood resembles a mighty river. Everything that comes in its way is washed away.
Official overlook
Vast is official apathy; in fact, more hurting for the people. It is shamelessly up on display. When asked about the number of villages that constitute the Taluk, the Tahsildar was clueless. “61, no, 62, no, 65, I think. Give me a minute,” he flounders.
It wasn't until the office clerk brought in a torn, dusty notepad with things scribbled in official green ink that S. Vaithiyanathan, the Tahsildar, was able to confirm the number of villages and hamlets that make up his Taluk. “71” his assistant puts the matter to rest.
“This year we received over 450 mm of rain as against the annual average of 45 mm,” said Vaithiyanathan, who has constituted a rain-relief department under his administration. “Two thousand rupees per family with five litres of kerosene, ten kilos of rice, and one dhoti and one sari — that is the norm.”
But in order to claim that Rs. 2,000 and the rest, one has to produce the ownership deed to one's land, convince the officer in charge that one actually incurred a loss due to the rains and then produce a host of other documents that confirm the victim's identity …
Most of the people in question are meek, uneducated villagers who are too soaked in their loss to care for the Rs. 2,000 that the government is giving out. “What'll Rs. 2000 do?” asks Parvathy. A ride on the official vehicle across the Taluq is both picturesque and painful. The roads are wide enough to accommodate only the jeep. The beauty of the greenery and the water hides the stark reality of the destruction that was brought along with it; flooded and washed away crops, people and cattle scrambling along the road seeking shelter from the rain, flooded houses…
The Tahsildar is like a god there; everybody believes that he exists, but the majority doesn't seem to have seen him. Seeing an official jeep stop at the tea shop, a woman comes to take a look. The Tahsildar humours her by asking her about herself. She's unaware of who she's talking to until the Tahsildar reveals his identity, “Do you know who I am? I am the Tahsildar”; all this while the jeep keeps a local bus waiting behind it while the Tahsildar leisurely sips his afternoon tea.
Proof of existence
The official reports say that over 70,000 hectares of land in Thiruvarur district has been inundated because of the rain this year and over 200 huts have been destroyed.
The government plans to make Tamil Nadu a hut-free state under the ‘Kalaignar Veedu Vazhangum Thittam' (Kalaignar Housing Scheme) and is in the process of providing concrete houses to people in the region.
“We have been living on this land for three generations now. One fine day the government decides to build elevated roads next to our houses and now our village acts like a drain,” says Pakki Sami of Sarvamaniyam village, “We applied for patta over five years back and there hasn't been any official word on it. And now they want us to move out, because we don't have documents to prove our legitimacy.”
“We know the sensitive areas because of our experience with floods. So when a flood warning is given we immediately evacuate the people,” explains Vaithiyanathan, when asked about precautionary measures taken, considering that this is a flood-prone area. “Building retainer walls will take time. For now we give them relief,” he answers with satisfaction at the steps being taken. Floods, poverty, empty promises, official apathy and helplessness are a way of life here. This is normal here.
Thiruvarur fact file
Formed on January 1, 1997, by carving out certain portions of erstwhile Nagappatinam and Thanjavur Districts.
It has 2, 37,715 hectares of cultivated area which constitutes 69 per cent of the total geographical area of the district.
It is more suitable for cultivation of paddy. Other important crops grown in the district are blackgram, greengram, cotton, sugarcane, gingelly, groundnut etc., and the major cash crops are paddy, blackgram, green gram, cotton.
According to the 2001 census, cultivators — 68374; agricultural labourers — 286033.
The district has clayey soil which results in water logging.
Source: Thiruvarur District Agricultural Plan “Thiruvarur District is situated in the tail end of the Cauvery Delta and it is also a coastal district. During the raining periods, apart from the rain water in Thiruvarur District, the water from Trichy and Thanjavur Districts is drained into Thiruvarur District that causes flooding and heavy damages to the crops. Even though there is heavy flood after the water gets drained, within 15 days there's water scarcity. This may be avoided by water harvesting through formation of farm ponds, construction of bore wells in tanks and renovation of village tanks and temple tanks to increase their carrying capacity. By the creation of rain harvesting structures, flood damages can be avoided and ground water level may be raised by recharging and the stored-water can be re-used when required” - Thiruvarur District Agricultural Plan
Damages and relief
Out of 1,44,000 hectares of samba and thaladi coverage in the district, crops on 28,900 hectares was fully inundated.
50,000 group houses in Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur districts were damaged in the rain.
67,664 hectares were water-logged in Thiruvarur.
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has announced a sanction of Rs.100 crore as flood relief.
For people killed in rain-related incidents, relief of Rs.2 lakhs is given. This includes the general relief of Rs.1 lakh and another Rs.1 lakh given from Chief Minister's relief fund.
A sum of Rs.5,000 is paid as compensation for fully damaged hut.
(Cyril is a student of Asian College of Journalism.)
