CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Vivasaigal Sangam urged the state government on Monday to assess damaged crops on a war footing to compensate the farmers.
“Due to the continuous heavy rains and Cyclone Fengal that have lashed the State for the past week, thousands of acres of paddy crops have been affected in the Delta districts and Cuddalore, Villupuram, Kanchipuram, Tiruvannamalai and Chengalpattu. Hundreds of cattle have died. Moreover, maize fields have completely collapsed and submerged in water in some places in Perambalur and Ariyalur districts,” said general secretary Sami Natarajan in a statement.
He said that the unprecedented heavy rains have affected all paddy and cash crops in the last few days. “The Union Government should declare Villupuram district as a disaster-affected district,” he said.
A central government team should immediately inspect the damage caused by Cyclone Fengal and the rains across the State and immediately sanction disaster relief to the state, he said. “We demand a compensation of Rs 35,000 per acre for the paddy crops destroyed by the rain and floods, a compensation of Rs 10,000 each for the flood-affected houses,” he demanded.