VILLUPURAM: Over 1,000-acres of crops have been affected and several houses inundated as heavy rain battered Villupuram district from Wednesday night. Officials said the full extent of damage will be revealed in the coming days as a survey is underway.
Most parts of Villupuram have received moderate to heavy rainfall in the past two days. Manampoondi received the highest rainfall of 170 mm followed by Ananthapuram, Mugaiyur and Kedar. The unexpected downpour led to inundation of almost all farm lands in Vikravandi, Tindivanam, Gingee and Villupuram taluks, sources said.
A Shanthi (45), a farmer from Veedur, lost three acres of groundnut crop that she planted just three days ago. She lost about Rs 50,000 due to crop damage, an amount she got after pawning her gold jewellery. “It’s the kind of downpour I have not seen in my life and last night was nothing but gut wrenching,” she said.
Villages near Veedur dam were badly hit and the State Highway at Ezhai village was broken by villagers trying to prevent flooding. “There is a canal along the farms but since it wasn’t desilted, water has entered the fields. All farmlands in our village have been damaged.
We demand that officials take immediate action to desilt the canal and provide relief to the farmers,” said 50-year-old Sivaperumal, a resident of Ezhai. There were breaches in T Pudhupalayam and Melakonthai lakes, causing flooding in the residential areas nearby.
Road caves in after rain
Cuddalore: Due to continuous rainfall for the past two days, a road near Elamaiyatru Kovil caved in on Thursday for the second time after the Nivar cyclone. After inspection by officials, repair work started.
