VIRUDHUNAGAR: The district recorded an average of 5.56 cm of rainfall on Monday, with Sivakasi receiving the highest of 9.9 cm. The forest department has banned devotees from visiting the Sathuragiri temple due to flooding. Owing to continuous rainfall, schools across the district remained closed on Monday.
Cotton and maize farmers from Puliyampatti and Gopalapuram are the worst-hit, said Ram Pandiyan, district president of Cauvery Vaigai Kiruthumal Gundaru Irrigation Farmers’ Federation.
He said that rainwater, flowing from north to south, typically drains into more than 12 tanks before reaching the Vaippar in Thoothukudi district. However, as the main canal was not desilted for the past four years, despite the repeated demands of farmers during district-level grievance meetings, rainwater has now stagnated in the fields, he said.
The federation said that farmers, who had spent nearly Rs 20,000 an acre for cultivation, are now devastated by the loss. Waterlogging in the fields has compounded the woes of farmers, who had already been dealing with crop damage due to wild boar intrusion, they said.