Nagai salt producers lose ground in Gaja aftermath

Vedaranyam which has been producing 6 lakh tonnes of salt and termed to be second largest salt producers in the state, next to Thoothukudi, had a heavy blow in the recent Gaja cyclone. Around two lakh tonne of salt harvested till the month of October were damaged and the salt panes in the entire region has been washed away.

Out of the total 9,000-acre land produce salt in Vedaranyam, 6,000-acre are undertaken by two corporate firms with 3,000-acre each and the remaining 3,000-acre land is shared by small and medium salt producers in and around Vedaranyam, in which more than 20,000 workers either directly or indirectly are involved.

It is said that the salt producers prepare the pans after the Pongal festival, with the preliminary works like levelling the ground, making bunds and clearing them. However, around 400 salt produces in the region have been affected by a severe loss in the Gaja cyclone.

Since the cyclone, there is inundation of pans spread over 3,000 to 4,000 acres by slush causing extensive damage. There are scores of dead fishes and birds in the slush, which could be removed only through a chemical process and this would be an additional expenditure, the salt producers claim. “The temporary shelters in which we stocked the salt have destroyed. We are yet to reach several pockets of the salt pans as uprooted trees and electric poles have hindered access,” V Senthil, secretary of Vedaranyam small and mid- scale salt producers’ association told DTNext.

Most of the salt pans in Agasthiyampalli and Kodiyakkarai were inundated with rainwater; the bunds along the pans have been washed away. “This would take at least two to three months to clear the slush. To bring back the land to a form would take another month. By and large, we need to skip the coming season,” Senthil further said and recalled that this was worse than the Tsunami.

Similarly, the salt pans in Thanjavur were also washed away and the pans in Malliattinam and Sethibavachathiram regions have been inundated.