NAGAPATTINAM: While there has been a let-up in the rains that lashed the district until two days ago, farmers in several pockets complain that their paddy cultivation continue to be under rainwater.
Expressing concern that the samba - and even kuruvai - crops would be spoilt were the excess water to take further time to drain from the fields, they blame the authorities not clearing the water hyacinth blocking irrigation canals in the district for the situation.
While kuruvai paddy cultivation on roughly 2,400 hectares and samba paddy raised on 2,500 ha in the district were said to have come under rainwater as on Tuesday, S R Tamilselvan, the policy outreach secretary of the Tamil Nadu farmers protection association, said, “Around 25,000 acres of crops have suffered damage, and more than 10,000 acres are completely submerged in rainwater. The paddy has sprouted and become unfit for harvest."
Agriculture and farmers’ welfare department officials were not available for comment. Tamilselvan blamed the situation to the failure to remove water hyacinth blocking irrigation canals across the district, which, in turn, prevented the excess rainwater from draining from the fields. In particular, the water in paddy fields in Nagapattinam and Kilvelur taluks is draining slowly, he said.
The scenario is worse in the tail end areas of the district, Tamilselvan alleged. In areas under Vedaranyam taluk, where samba cultivation is significant, the fields have been flooded and no drainage is possible, leading to severe crop loss. When enquired, a senior water resources department (WRD) official in Nagapattinam division told TNIE that canals with significant blockage were cleared ahead of the rains. Water is draining from the fields by the day, the official added.
Meanwhile, Sivaguru Pandian, district secretary of the CPI, said, "Water hyacinth has grown densely in the Mulliyar and Maanangkondan rivers in Vedaranyam, which drain into the sea."
The farmers allege that the vegetation has not been removed for years, delaying the drainage of excess rainwater. "The clearance work that had started earlier has been stopped," Pandian alleged. To this, a senior WRD official in Vedaranyam division said that the drive to clear water hyacinth in canals in the tail-end areas was suspended in view of Deepavali and added that it will resume soon.
A proposal carrying a list of places, including those in the catchment areas of the Mulliyar, where such a clearance drive can be undertaken has been sent to the higher-ups, the official added.
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