Central team visits Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam

The Central team assessing the havoc wreaked by Cyclone Gaja on Sunday said the situation in the delta districts was grim.

State officials had earlier described as debilitating the impact the cyclone had on infrastructure and standing crops.

They found thousands of coconut trees had uprooted, groves destroyed, electric poles broken, sub-stations and houses damaged.

Daniel E. Richard, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, told The Hindu that it was pathetic to see the pain and suffering of the affected people. “We have met several affected farmers and got first-hand accounts of the extent of destruction. The cyclone damage is beyond our imagination,” Mr. Richard said. He gave a patient hearing to various farmers at Pudukottai Ullur, where the cyclone had destroyed more than 90% of coconut trees raised on 282 hectares, and other places in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts.

Accompanied by Additional Chief Secretary and Commissioner of Revenue Administration, K. Satyagopal, Thanjavur Collector A. Annadurai, and senior officials of the State government, the team, comprising six members, started the second day tour from Orathanadu Pudur, one of the worst-hit areas in Thanjavur district.

At Orathanadu Pudur, the team members stepped into a house, which was virtually open to the sky after the cyclone blew away the asbestos roof, and met V. Arumugam, 60, the occupant, who had tears rolling down his cheek. “It was a horrific night. The cyclone has caused misery. I had to take shelter in a neighbour’s house to escape nature’s fury. I returned to find my house in tatters. The expenditure of ₹2 lakh I recently incurred for undertaking repairs and maintenance has been rendered waste,” Mr. Arumugam lamented. When A. Gnanamani, another resident of same village, recounted a similar harrowing experience, Mr. Richard consoled him and gave an assurance that the loss would be compensated.

On the Thanjavur-Pattukottai-Adirampattinam-Mallipattinam Road, the team noted, thousands of coconut trees were uprooted, groves destroyed, electricity sub-stations collapsed, electric poles broken and houses damaged.

A grief-stricken farmer, Nagarajan, who lost almost all the 75 coconut trees he had raised on two acres at Pulavangadu, complained that he had lost everything. Mr. Nagarajan used to earn around ₹50,000 once in two months.

Criticism of Centre

V. Jeevakumar, vice-president, All India Agricultural Labour Union, Thanjavur, complained that the Centre, in the past, released only meagre amounts as compensation for relief and rehabilitation of victims displaced by cyclones Thane, Vardah and Ockhi. The relief should match the expectation of the State, he said.

The team later visited the Mallipattinam fishing harbour, where the cyclone had destroyed 246 mechanised boats and 832 motorised country boats. “We will stand by you,” said a team member to R. Muthukrishnan, when the latter expressed doubt whether the livelihood of fishermen could be revived at all.