Chennai: Farmers in delta districts demand long-term solutions for their crisis and complain that due to torrential rains between October 16 and 22, parts of Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Cuddalore and Thanjavur were inundated.
Estimating the loss to be about '2,000 crore this season, farmers have demanded removal of encroachments and weeds from riverbanks and canals. The farmers termed peanuts the compensation of '5,000 per acre announced by the government.
“The vast network of Cauvery delta river system stretching over 9,000 sq km is in a state of neglect and suffers from encroachment and weed infestation. If this is cleared at least the loss for farmers can be reduced by '500 crore,” said Arupathy P. Kalyanam, general secretary, Federation of Farmers Association Cauvery Delta Districts.The government must purchase floating excavators with a capacity to work at a depth of 5ft to 10ft water to remove obstruction and weeds from drains and rivers.
The delta districts have a network of 36 rivers running across a length of nearly 2,600 km and channels with the length of 50,000 km. By investing '50 crore in these machines the state government can save minimum '500 crore crop loss, Mr Kalyanam opined.
“Every year drought and floods lead to crop losses. The government’s relief packages cannot protect livelihood of the farmers of the region. There is a need for more permanent solutions in an integrated manner involving the stakeholders," said farmer K. Ekambaram of Nagapattinam.
A senior official in state agriculture ministry said that farmers have been sending representations and recommendations. All these suggestions including the purchase of excavators will be considered based on its merits. He said that district collectors were instructed to ascertain crop damages and submit their reports.
Farmlands in Nagapattinam were the worst affected followed by Tiruvarur and Thanjavur where removal of weeds from the river will improve water flow and enhance the biodiversity of water bodies, said A. Kumaraguru of Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Trichy.
According to sources of the agriculture department drought relief of '15,000 per acre for paddy crop that suffered damage in 3.61 lakh acres was distributed in 2012 at a cost of '542 crore which benefitted 3.53 lakh farmers. Sources confirmed that so far over 500 hectares of crops have been submerged this year.
