Gale destroys over 1 lakh banana trees in Tiruchy

Horticulture Department officials from Karur and Tiruchy districts visited the spot to assess the damage. The farmers said that nearly one lakh banana crops awaiting harvest had been laid waste. 

Puliyur A Nagarajan, state president of TMC (Farmers wing), said, “Due to strong winds on May 2 and 3 night, several thousands of banana trees had broken in half. With the harvest set to commence in the next couple of weeks, all of it would go waste since several lakhs of trees with ripe bananas had fallen, shattering the hopes of farmers. Though the evaluation by the Horticulture Department is under way, we are not satisfied with it, since banana farmers have not been offered compensation for the past 10 years,” he said. 

He alleged that each time when such a damage occurs, both the Horticulture and Revenue Department officials just send reports to the government, but never help get a single paise of compensation. He demanded that at least Rs 350 per tree be given to the farmers as compensation as the production cost was between Rs 300 and 350. The farmers associated with TMC submitted a petition through e-mail to the Chief Minister and to the Agriculture Department heads seeking proper assessment and compensation. 

M Mohan Ram, deputy director of Horticulture, Karur, said the intense gust in villages in Krishnarayapuram block left several thousands of banana trees damaged. 

About three hectares of banana trees were damaged in Chinthalavadi, two hectares in Kallapalli and four hectares in other parts of Krishnarayapuram in the past two days.