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Nearly 4500 hectares of paddy crops inundated in Ramanathapuram

It may be noted that Ramanathapuram, which has acres of rainfed agricultural areas, received sporadic rainfall in the last couple of weeks.
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RAMANATHAPURAM: Crop inundation has taken a serious toll on the farmers in Ramanathapuram, as over 4,500 hectares of paddy crops suffered due to waterlogging issues this week. Farmers are also finding it difficult to drain out water from the fields, which have been inundated due to the increased water flow through the canals in the Thiruvadanai block.

It may be noted that Ramanathapuram, which has acres of rainfed agricultural areas, received sporadic rainfall in the last couple of weeks. Following this, nearly 1.2 lakh hectares were used for Samba paddy cultivation in the district. As the paddy season proceeded towards its third week, the excessive downpour caused the canals and tanks to reach its full capacity last week, and water overflowed into agricultural fields in multiple villages in the Thiruvadanai block, sources said.

During primary damage enumeration, the agricultural department found that about 1,500-2,000 hectares of area was inundated following the rainfall. However, the acreage of crop damage increased widely since the stagnant water in the fields remained undrained for a long time.

Official sources from the agricultural department stated that the crop inundation increased in Thiruvadanai region, as the water remained stagnant due to increased flow through channels caused by heavy rainfall in Sivaganga. Nearly 4,000-4,500 hectares of areas remain submerged in water that overflew from canals and tanks. Earlier, the farmers had an option to drain off the water and dry the crops to reduce damage. However, with continuous rainfall, farmers are expected to face crop failure in approximately 3,000 hectares of two-weeks-old paddy crops, they said.

Speaking to TNIE, M Gavaskar, a farmer leader from Thiruvadanai, said, "As the tanks have reached its full capacity, water has entered the fields. Though the water can be drained by emptying the tanks, we cannot resort to such measures as the water stored in tanks is essential for irrigation in the coming days. We have spent nearly Rs 12,000 per acre for the plantation works. Now, we have to spend an additional Rs 10,000 to restart the works if this season fails. We hope the government will grant compensation for our loss."

Further, M S K Bakkiyanathan, a farmer leader from Ramanathapuram, told TNIE that a majority of the tanks attained full capacity within a couple of days. "If the monsoon intensifies, then more water cannot be stored in the tanks and it will overflow. Hence, immediate action should be taken to maintain the tanks and its inlet-outlet lines to ensure that the rainwater is properly stored in all the tanks, so that it can be used for recharging groundwater table and irrigation purposes.''

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