TIRUCHY: Even as the heat wave was sweeping the Delta region, rains accompanied by gale lashed parts of Tiruchy district bringing relief to the people and pain to farmers during the early hours on Monday.
The sudden summer rains along with the gale destroyed plantain and betel leaf crops in several thousand acres worth more than Rs 1 crore.
According to sources, plantain and betel leaves have been widely cultivated at Thottiyam, Kattuputhur, Kaduvetti, Seeplaputhur, and Natham in Thottiyam in Tiruchy district.
While the plantain crops were in the final stage, a sudden heavy rain lashed many places from Sunday late hours. Farmers, who had been waiting for a summer rain, were shocked to witness strong wind that lasted for more than two hours. The havoc caused by the wind left around five lakh plantain trees devastated besides causing extensive damage to the betel leaf vine in the same areas.
Farmers said that summer rains would help the crops and so they were cheerful for a while, but their happiness proved to be short-lived as the strong winds that followed the rains spoiled all the plantain and betel crops.
They demanded the government to depute officials to evaluate the damage and provide adequate compensation. They said, even coconut trees were uprooted in a few places in the region. On Monday, Musiri MLA Kaduvetti Thiyagarajan inspected the damage and assured them of taking up their problem with the Chief Minister to get proper compensation.