Heavy downpour submerges paddy in 1000's of acres in Thanjavur dist

TIRUCHY: A sudden downpour that lasted for around three hours in Thanjavur submerged several thousands of acres of paddy. The farmers were now involved in draining out the water from their fields on Wednesday.

While the district received a good spell of rain for the past couple of days due to Cyclone Mandous, a sudden downpour was witnessed for around three hours late on Tuesday. According to the official sources, Tiruvaiyaru received the maximum of 9.7 cm while Bhuthalur received 7.9 cm, Thirukattupalli 6.2 cm and Grand Anicut 4 cm rainfall.

Since there was heavy rains, the 20 to 40 days old samba nurseries submerged at Tiruvaiyaru, Vilangudi, Punavasal, Villiyanallur and the adjacent areas. Similarly, the heavy rains at Buthalur areas had submerged the paddy at Vendayampatti and Kotrapatti areas.

Improper desilting of irrigation canals

Farmers said that the irrigation canals were not properly desilted in the region and so the water inundated cultivable lands itself. The farmers who were involved in draining the water, demanded proper assessment and a compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre and warned that they would stage a series of protests for their demands.

“We are struggling to drain the water out and we removed the block in the irrigation canal with the help of earth movers. The canals are encroached and so the water fails to recede from the fields,’’ said R Ramachandran, district secretary of Agricultural Labourers Union

He also demanded the officials to have a proper inspection and initiate a permanent solution to the issue.