NAGAPATTINAM: The livelihood of Pushpavanam villagers is still 'oozing' from the wounds that Gaja
cyclone caused them. The Pushpavanam village, which was worse hit, has still not shaken off the marine ooze which deposited on the night of November 15.
Because of this, fishers are unable to venture into sea and farmers not able to cultivate crops. Even some developed allergies to ooze.
What is Calcareous Marine Ooze?
It is a calcium carbonate mud formed out of marine flora and fauna. They get sedimented and lie on the seafloor. Only a strong push on the water can push them from the sea into the inland.
"We could not go fishing for at least five months following the cyclone because of the clay and the other cyclone damages. Many of us become indebted in the months in a fight for survival. The monsoon compensation of Rs 5000 was barely helpful to manage our lives. It has been tough for us since Tsunami, " said M Chandrasekaran, a fisher, from Pushapavanam where the infamous marine calcareous
ooze is still sitting in the fisherfolk village, and on livelihoods of the villagers.
"Cyclones are capable of creating powerful storm surges. They pushed the seawater along with the unsettled sediments lying at the bottom of the seafloor, towards inland and deposited them into low-lying areas of the adjacent land," said Dr V Selvam, a researcher on the coastal system and climate change, from M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF).
The impact
The waves had pushed calcareous ooze into villages of Pushpavanam, Periyakuthagai, and Naluvethapathi around a kilometre towards inland and for a stretch of eight kilometres along the coastline.
The ooze engulfed and invaded into the roads, plots and many houses in Pushpavanam village. It also invaded into hundreds of acres of farmlands of Periyakuthagai and Naluvethapathi. The deposits were over two feet in height.
"We had received a compensation of Rs 1.5 lakhs for the damages of our boats, but it was barely sufficient to build a fibreglass boat which takes at least Rs 7 lakhs for its body, engine and nets. Since we were not earning for many months, we had to take a lot of loans to build our boats and run our lives for months," said S Ramesh, a village representative.
The traders visiting Pushpavanam to procure fishes had also become less. People also started getting allergies in roaming amid the ooze. The agricultural engineering department began its works to dig and clean up the stubborn clay deposits in December last year. They dug eight passages through the marine clay for fishers to take their boats to the sea before they had to stop the works for General Elections Model Code of Conduct.
The farmers who reside in Periyakuthagai, Naluvethapathi and some areas of Vellapallam villages are also affected by the ooze. While the ooze was feet-high in Pushpavanam, they were only inches in thickness in the invasion in Periyakuthagai and Naluvethapathi. The water with ooze had climbed through the drain channels and deposited them in the paddy fields. They lost their crops which they
had cultivated for Samba last year, with the invasion of marine clay. Their only paddy cultivation of the year is of rainfed as they do not have access to the distributaries of Cauvery-Vennaru.
The farmers were able to scratch it off in the months that followed by several weeks of ploughing. But, then clay had done its damage to the soil with unnecessary addition of minerals to the coastal soil which already does not favour paddy cultivation too much.
A farmer named S Renganathan, from Periyakuthagai said, "The district administration took steps at least cleanup Pushpavanam. But we, farmers, from Periyakuthagai and Naluvethapathi, were left
to take care of the clay in our fields. Some of us received crop insurance. But, many of lost a considerable amount of profits for a year following the cyclone. Now we are made to cultivate Samba without even cleaning completely, "
Paddy among other cultivation affected
Apart from losing their only paddy cultivation of the year, many farmers were unable to cultivate crops such as urad and green gram in spring and summer. Still, the deposits are lying in the inlet channels dug for rainwater accumulation and inflow towards fields. The water flowing through the channels are still
brushing off the salty clay deposits and flowing to the fields.
"We were already losing the soil fertility post the invasion of Tsunami. The clay invasion was another blow to our dry season crop cultivation. We had cultivated paddy after several soil tests were conducted. We are unsure how it would turn up for harvest. We request the aid of government or nonprofits to at least clean then channels,"
Dr R Rengalakshmi, another MSSRF researcher, and agronomist said, "We have taken soil samples and found an increase in salinity in the fields in villages around Pushpavanam. The salinity could decrease over the period. But as long as soil salinity is present at high levels, the crops will lose nutrition
absorbing capacity, "
The works eventually resumed in October second week. A senior official said, "We are cleaning over 32 acres of area severely deposited by the calcareous ooze at the cost of Rs 12 lakhs. We are deploying more machinery from other districts, into action. The works will complete in approximately a month"