Chennai, 15 December (H.S.) : Farmers in the Cauvery Delta region of Tamil Nadu are expressing concern over the slow progress of crop damage assessment, which has been crucial since the devastation caused by the northeast monsoon and Cyclone Ditwah. The heavy rains submerged and rotted samba and thalady crops across an estimated ninety thousand hectares.

Although farmers welcomed the government's decision to withdraw the initial app-based GPS verification in favour of the conventional manual method, they remain anxious that delays in assessment will hinder the prompt disbursal of compensation.

Farmer leaders highlight that the assessment process was promised to be completed quickly, but only about fifty percent of the task has been finished so far. PS Masilamani, General Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, affiliated with the CPI, stated that officials had promised to complete the remaining work within a week.

Cauvery S Dhanapalan, General Secretary of the Cauvery Farmers Protection Association, emphasized that farmers are waiting for the completion of the assessment to revamp their fields and begin the next cultivation cycle, as they do not want their land to lie barren. He also suggested that the task load for Assistant Agriculture Officers, who are entitled to assess the damage, is too high, urging that an officer should only be responsible for three villages for a faster survey process.

Meanwhile, agriculture officials stated they have been instructed to accelerate the process. To address the staff shortage, the government has deputed two hundred and fifty Assistant Agriculture Officers from non-Delta districts exclusively for the damage assessment.

An official noted that the manual enumeration has been intensified across the region, and more than sixty percent of the affected areas have been covered. Authorities are confident that the remaining areas will be covered in a couple of days.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Dr. R. B. Chaudhary