The current wet spell in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts of the Cauvery delta extended through Tuesday with the strong possibility of more rains in the next couple of days bringing cheers to a section of farmers and instilling fear among another section.
Two persons were struck by lightning in as many places on Monday.
Light drizzle greeted the residents in various parts of the two districts and sky remained overcast over the region when there was respite from rain.
Sheets of water covered low lying areas of Thanjavur town and its suburbs and intermittent showers kept the public on their toes.
Despite the much feared Agni Nakshatram period, there have been adequate rains in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts to keep the temperature under control over the past week.
While the rain started the day Agni Nakshatram commenced on May 4, there was a lull for some days before the rain resumed two days ago.
The chief amount of rainfall (in mm) recorded in major centres in Thanjavur district in the 24 hours ending 4 p.m. on Tuesay included Vettikkadu 42, Orathanad 36.5, Vallam 36, Tiruvaiyaru 30, Kumbakonam 27, Kurungulam 25, Manjalaru and Neivasal Thenpathi 24 each, Tiruvidaimarudur 19.2, Grand Anicut and Tirukkattupalli 13.2, Papanasam 11 and Adirampattinam 10.6 mm.
Lightning strikes
Thirty-year-old S. Anandi of Mudikondan village near Nannilam in Tiruvarur district was struck dead by lightning when she was working under the aegis of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the village.
In another incident, farm worker Amirthalingam (33) was struck dead by lightning while walking on the road along at Aalivalam village near Tiruthuraipoondi in Tiruvarur district with his friend Thangamani (32). An injured Thangamani is treated at the Tiruthuraipoondi GH.
The continuing rain has something to cheer for a vast majority of farmers in the two districts while instilling fear among a section of them depending on the crops they had raised. “The present wet spell is good for the standing Chitrai pattam black gram and the early Kuruvai crop raised with the help of pump set irrigation in several areas of Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts. Rain at flowering stage of Kuruvai is good for productivity. Standing sugarcane crop will immensely benefit from the current rain,” says district secretary of the Cauvery Farmers’ Protection Association Swamimalai S. Vimalnathan.
The rain was proving to be detrimental to the standing cotton crop as the fickle cotton crop was highly susceptible to root rot and wilt diseases in case of water stagnation in the fields.
