Temporary loss of jobs as rain halts production in Vedaranyam salt pans

Hundreds of producers and thousands of workers are affected as convective rain interrupted salt production in Vedaranyam.

An inundated salt pan in Vedaranyam. Salt producers said they were struggling to drain water as the frequency of rain could not be predicted to initiate the work | Express 

NAGAPATTINAM: Hundreds of producers and thousands of workers are affected as convective rain interrupted salt production in Vedaranyam. Around 9,000 acres, including 3,000 acres of small-scale salterns, are underwater due to convective rain for the past one week in Vedaranyam. “We cannot continue production as rainwater dilutes seawater, which will reduce the saturation levels of temperature.

The water can be drained but we need to give time for salterns to settle down and be administered with seawater again,” said ‘Mahalakshmi’ V Senthil, secretary, Vedaranyam Small-Scale Salt Manufacturers Federation. Over 1,000 salt producers have been affected. Salt producers have been struggling to drain water from salterns as the number of times convective rains will arrive in a day are becoming unpredictable. To be safe, salt production has been stopped altogether after covering the salt mounds to prevent them from dissolving. 

Salt workers have been asked to bide their time till production can once again begin. There are over 2.000 salt workers working in the small-scale salt industry in Vedaranyam.  hey take care of water administration and transfer, furrow building, salt wiping, collecting, heaping and dumping, loading and unloading into vehicles. Men receive Rs 500 and women Rs 300 for a day’s work apart from food and snacks.

Labourers trained in the industry are affected as their skills would be of little use in any other sector, making it difficult for them to find alternative employment. “We cannot leave for another town just because it is raining. What we do is skilled work and we do not adapt to works like the 100-day scheme that easily as we would be replaced if our jobs are taken in our absence. So, we just have to wait for the rain to stop and waters to recede,” said K Mari, a salt worker from Kodiyakadu near Vedaranyam.

9,000 acres of salterns are underwater due to convective rain for the past one week in Vedaranyam

2,000 workers employed in the small-scale salt industry in various capacities are facing temporary job loss