RAMANATHAPURAM
Farmers were disappointed that the 1,220 mcft of water released from Vaigai dam to the district would not be available for irrigation purpose even as the northeast monsoon has not been encouraging.
As the district administration made it clear that the water released from Vaigai dam would be utilised only to recharge groundwater sources to cater to drinking water needs, farmers have pinned hope on the northeast monsoon to save paddy crop, cultivated on about 1.25 lakh acres of rain-fed areas.
The monsoon had been disappointing so far as the district had received a total rainfall of 243.25 mm as on Sunday, but more than 60% of the rainfall occurred in Rameswaram island, Thondi and other coastal areas where there was no cultivation, officials said.
The scattered rainfall under the influence of Cyclone Ockhi in November-end brought some relief and helped the farmers save crop from withering. There were high hopes of Cyclone Ockhi bringing rain, but it left the district untouched.
After the onset of the monsoon in October, the district had witnessed 24 rainy days – 15 of them recorded in November. Though the rainfall figures indicated that the district had already received 50% of its total rainfall of 501.6 mm during the northeast monsoon, most of the rainfall occurred in the island and coastal areas, officials said.
As the rainfall figures often misled the ground reality, Collector S. Natarajan had written to the government to remove the five rain gauge stations in Rameswaram island and other coastal areas. The northeast monsoon failed in 2015 and 2016 and the farmers suffered 100% crop loss in the two years. Last year, the district received only 173.87 mm rainfall, accounting for 35% of total rainfall on 17 rainy days, the officials said.
