A group of farmers from Devandathavu village in Devakottai taluk of Sivaganga district submitted a petition to the Ramanathapuram Collector here on Monday, seeking his intervention to save paddy crops from flooding due to overflowing water from three tanks in a nearby village Kattavilagam in Ramanathapuram village.
“Devandathavu is located in the border of Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram districts and across the border lies the village of Kattavilagam, where there are three water tanks. With a good northeast monsoon, the tanks are full and overflowing. However, since our farmlands are located close to the tank, the water has entered our lands, submerging paddy crops,” said R. Ramachandran, a farmer.
He added that the villagers of Kattavilagam have closed all the sluices of the tanks, arresting the water from flowing further towards the other tanks downstream.
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“We held talks with the Kattavilagam residents, requesting them to reduce the water storage in the tank, so that we can harvest the paddy grains, but they did not agree to it. We have submitted a petition to the Tiruvadanai tahsildar but since there was no action, we approached the Collector,” said Ramachandran.
The farmers claimed that over 250 acres of matured paddy has been submerged and about 120 farmers have been affected.
“The region we live has no source of irrigation and we practise only rain-fed cultivation of crops. Most of the times, our crops wither due to lack of water and we face loss. This time, the crops are wilting due to excess water and we are again facing huge loss. If only we harvest the paddy grains in the next three days, it will be useful. Else, the grains will go waste,” added the farmers.
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