Palaniswami urges TN govt to provide Rs 25,000 per acre for Delta farmers facing crop loss

CHENNAI: AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday urged the TVK government to provide an immediate compensation of Rs 25,000 per acre to Delta farmers for the damaged Kuruvai paddy crops.

Palaniswami also requested officials from the Revenue and Agriculture departments to immediately inspect affected fields across the region and provide uninterrupted 24-hour free three-phase electricity to save surviving crops.

"Every year, water from the Mettur dam is customarily released on June 12 for the Kuruvai cultivation season. However, this year, water was not released from the reservoir," the former chief minister said in a statement.

The AIADMK chief claimed that due to the non-release of Cauvery water, farmers across approximately 1.85 lakh acres in the Delta districts, who depend primarily on river irrigation, were unable to carry out Kuruvai cultivation and suffered immense losses.

The Delta farmers who relied on open wells and borewells proceeded with Kuruvai cultivation this year and spent around Rs 25,000 per acre in physical labour and cultivation expenses.

"Severe water scarcity has caused Kuruvai paddy crops across nearly one lakh acres in areas including Nannilam and Kudavasal in Tiruvarur district as well as other Delta regions, to wither completely, ruining the livelihood of farmers," the AIADMK chief said.

"I urge the government to immediately dispatch Revenue and Agriculture Department officials directly to the Delta districts to inspect the withered and damaged paddy fields," he said.

"The government should also sanction a compensation of Rs 25,000 per acre to all affected farmers and moreover, to protect the remaining standing crops, uninterrupted 24-hour free three-phase electricity for agriculture should be provided," he added.