PUDUKOTTAI: Farmers in Thanjavur and Pudukkottai districts are grief-stricken as Cyclone Gaja felled a vast number of coconut trees, putting their livelihoods at stake. Coconut trees are grown on several thousand hectares in Pattukkottai, Peravurani and Orathanadu taluks. Farmers in these areas are lamenting more than 70 per cent of coconut trees were flattened by the strong winds.
They said they have never experienced or heard of such extensive devastation of coconut trees.
Speaking to Express, 65-year-old A Subbiah could not contain his tears.
Out of 160 coconut trees on his land in Veppangadu village on the Gandharvakkottai-Pattukkottai road, only 20 have been left standing after the cyclone. He said, “Each tree would yield 30 to 35 coconuts for 50 days. So, I was getting at Rs 500 per tree. My sons do not study and they are also dependent on these coconut trees for their livelihoods. We have lost everything.”
Noting only a handful of persons from the village work in government and private sector jobs, Subbiah said, “If the next generation had salaried jobs, we could hope to limp back to normality. But here, the majority of youngsters are into growing coconuts because of the assured income. Apart from my personal loss, I am concerned about them. What will they do in life?” For M M Punnayamoorthy of Enathi village, the loss was heavy.
He lost more than 60 per cent of the coconut trees standing on 20 acres.
His poultry farm was completely wiped out, killing thousands of chickens. Twenty family members worked at the poultry farm. On Sunday, wearing masks and gloves, they were loading a tractor wagon with dead chickens to bury them using an earthmover. M.Venkatesh (30), a mechanical engineering graduate, also worked at the poultry farm. He said, “Without taking up an engineering job, I started working at the farm but now have lost livelihood.”
In Ambalapattu near Orathanadu, Veerasakthi lost all his coconut trees on his four acres. After hearing of the devastation, he stayed away from his land until Saturday fearing the sight of the fallen trees would affect his already weak health.