Narrating his woes, V. Paneerselvam (38), a marginal farmer growing maize in about three acres in remote Alappalacheri hamlet near Tirumangalam here said that he had never witnessed such a drought in the past two decades.
Like him, there were many small and marginal farmers who explained their plight to the inter-ministerial officials from New Delhi.
Accompanied by the Collector, K. Veera Raghava Rao, the team comprising Vijay Rajmohan, Director, Trade Extension and Drought Management, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi, Santosh, Advisor, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and TWAD Board Managing Director Dheeraj Kumar, visited three hamlets in Tirumangalam and Sedapatti blocks.
The farmers said the standing crops withered for want of water. With failure of both south-west and north-east monsoon in the region, they were severely hit.
To add to their woes, drawing potable water too had become a Herculean task now, they claimed and prayed that the Union and State governments rescued them adequately by way of compensation and rehabilitation.
While in Poosalapuram village, 280 hectares of maize raised by as many as 378 farmers was hit, it was worse in Kuppalnatham hamlet too where paddy grown by 73 farmers over 60 ha was completely lost. The agriculture department officials said that they did their best by educating the farmers on effective water management, but in vain.
But for the farmers in Kuppalnatham, a majority of them in the Tirumangalam and Sedapatti blocks had not insured their crops, they informed the Central team and also claimed that the standing crops were destroyed by wild pigs.
In a brief chat with the reporters, the team members said that they would submit their findings to the Centre within a week’s time. They added that that many tanks had turned bone dry in the district, was a major concern.
The Agriculture department officials said that with deficit annual rainfall and over 80 per cent dependent on rainfed cultivation, 645 villages in the district were affected this season.
A senior official said that the Vaigai dam storage was a little over 50 feet in January 2016, while it stood at 26 feet today. Likewise, the water level was comfortable with over 125 feet in Periyar dam in January 2016, while it was 109 feet on Monday.
