: Members of the inter-ministerial central teams to assess the drought impact in the State visited several parts of Krishnagiri, Salem, Namakkal and Erode districts on Tuesday.
Members of one of the teams told presspersons in Salem that the team will leave for New Delhi after completing the tour of Tamil Nadu on January 25 and will submit its report to the Centre.
District Collectors and officials apprised the team of the general situation, the shortage of rainfall and the crop loss. The team members visited the fields and interacted with farmers too.
In Erode district, the team first went to Nochipalayam village and found that mulberry, coconut and sugar cane crops had dried up. The impact was indeed severe, Vijayaraj Mohan, a senior official representing the Union Agriculture Ministry said.
At Attayampalayam, the farmers said they had invested heavily anticipating rain and sought implementation of the Pandiyaru-Punnambazha scheme as a long-term solution. On Wednesday, the team will visit Thalayampalayam, Karukkupalayam and Bolanaickenpalayam in Perundurai block and Surapalayam and Moolakarai in Erode block.
In Salem district, two different teams inspected the drought-hit areas. While one team visited the Mettur dam and inspected damaged crops in the surrounding villages, another team visited the affected cholam fields at Rayanpatti in Veerapandi union and Pudupalayam in Edappadi union.
In Krishnagiri district, officials pointed out that there had been a 30% deficit in rainfall: against the normal rainfall of 830 mm, the district had received only 590 mm. As a result, there had been a 50% drop in the yield of millets and pulses.
( With inputs from R. Krishnamoorthy in Erode, Syed Muthahar Saqaf in Salem and P.V. Srividya in Krishnagiri ).
