Ramanathapuram: The district police have banned vans from carrying tourists and pilgrims to Dhanushkodi and Arichalmunai in the sandy and marshy terrains as the whole stretch was inundated by seawater after the sea turned rough.
After 17 pilgrims were rescued by local fishermen when the van in which they were travelling to Dhanushkodi in the marshy terrain got stuck in a ditch early this month and two more vans got stuck recently, Superintendent of Police N. Manivannan banned the movement of vans in the stretch since Wednesday.
Presently, the entire stretch was inundated with seawater and the vehicles could be allowed to ply only after the water withdrew and the stretch became visible, the SP told The Hindu .
Meanwhile, the Nada cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal brought little rains to the water-starved district. The system triggered steady drizzle in Rameswaram and Pamban areas since Wednesday night, and slight drizzle in other parts of the district since Thursday morning. The drizzle, which was widespread in the district, abated in the afternoon, reports said.
As the sea became rough, fishermen abstained from venturing into the sea for fishing in Rameswaram and Pamban. Fishermen in north of Pamban have anchored their boats in Kunthukal canal and Chinnapalam for safety. The authorities have hoisted danger signal number two at Pamban port and warned fishermen against venturing into the sea.
Agriculture Department officials expressed disappointment as the cyclonic system brought very little rain to the district. “We have received only 27 per cent of rain so far during the north-east monsoon,” they said, adding more than 80 per cent of paddy crop cultivated in rain-fed areas had already started withering.
Failure of monsoon at the initial stage and dry spells lasting for more than 10 days at a stretch turned out to be detrimental to the crops, they said. The district administration had desilted most of the waterbodies and cleaned up supply channels to store maximum amount of rainwater, but it was too disappointed. The more than 4,000 farm ponds in the district were also empty.
