SALEM: Two central teams, comprising agriculture, home and finance ministry officials, visited Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Erode and Salem districts on Tuesday to take stock of the
drought situation in the region. The teams visited villages, besides
Mettur Stanley Reservoir
in Salem to verify the water level there.
A team led by
P Ganesh Ram
of Central
Agriculture Department
visited Salem district on Tuesday afternoon. The team visited a number of villages, including Omalur and Tharamangalam blocks and Mettur Stanley Reservoir. Farmers explained to the team their plight and also their inability to repay loans and interest due to drought. The farmers urged the team to recommend a compensation of Rs30,000 per acre against Rs5,600-Rs7,500 announced by the Tamil Nadu government.
Another team, led by Vijay Raj Mohan of agriculture department, visited dried maize and groundnut farmlands at Nallarayanpatti, followed by Kandarkula Manickam and Pudupalayam in Edapadi in Salem district. The women from these villages told the team that they had to walk nearly 3km to fetch potable water. The residents also laid siege to the central team when they visited their agriculture fields
The team also visited Rasampalayam, Singalanthapuram and Bodinaickenpatti villages in Namakkal district. The district collector, Asia Mariam, took the team to various villages to show the impact of drought in the district. The team took stock of the damage to coconut trees at Rasampalayam in Rasipuram taluk. “We planted coconut trees in about 100 acres in Rasipuram and all the trees have withered,” said P Gowtham, a farmer.
In Erode, the team led by Vijay Raj Mohan visited dried up mulberry, sugarcane, papaya, mango and turmeric farmlands at Nochipalayam, Attayampalayam and Samikavundanplaayam villages.
After assessing damage to the crops, Vijay Raj Mohan said the assessment was done as per home minister Rajnath Singh’s direction. “We visited Salem, Namakkal and Erode districts and drought has hit the farmers in these districts very badly,” he said.
The team led by P Ganesh Ram also visited Sivampatti, Nadupatti, Pattrahalli, Olaipatti and Dhasampatti villages in Krishnagiri district, besides drought-hit areas of Morapur, Harur, Samandahalli and Elavadai in Dharmapuri district.
Salem district collector V Sampath, Namakkal district collector Asia Mariam, Dharmapuri district collector P Vivekanandhan, Krishnagiri district collector C Kathiravan and Erode district collector S Prabhakaran and other officials accompanied the central teams.
The collectors explained the ground situation in their districts to the team with the help of audio/video footages. They also provided the teams input on rainfall in their districts.
The teams would assess the drought situation in three more places at Perundurai in Erode district on Wednesday, before heading to Tirupur and Coimbatore. The teams would submit their report to the Central government on Friday.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.
Start a Conversation
Post comment