Gale destroys banana crops

Around 25,000 banana crops were destroyed in a gale in villages near Sirumugai on Tuesday.

According to officials of Horticulture Department, the gale that was accompanied by rain destroyed crops in Lingapuram, Kandhavayal, Mokkaimedu, Uppupallam, Varapallam, Moolaiyur and a few other villages.

Sources from Mettupalayam said that more than a lakh banana crops could have been destroyed. The crops would have been ready for harvest in another two months.

The Department officials said that in Lingapuram alone, they had estimated that around 25,000 banana crops were damaged. Most of those crops were on the Public Works Department land that was on lease. Crops that were on

patta land and were damaged would account for only 25 per cent of the total damaged crops.

They said that they had begun assessing the damage of the crops on the patta land as only those would be taken in to account for arriving at the loss. Crops that were on the land leased from the PWD and were damaged would not be taken into account for compensation.

On Thursday, Revenue Department officials in Mettupalayam along with village administrative officers of the revenue villages concerned will undertake a field visit to assess the damage and prepare a report. Once the report reaches the district administration, it will forward the same to the State Government for compensation.