Team visits delta regions in Tiruchi, Thanjavur, and Tiruvarur districts

Farmers representatives sought to impress upon the Central team that toured the delta districts on Tuesday the need for sanctioning relief quickly to all farmers as the drought has had a severe impact. Several farmers also insisted that the Centre sanction the full quantum of compensation sought by the State (which has sought about Rs.19,665 crore as drought relief).

Administrative sanction given to the Rs. 90 lakh-project

The State government has allotted Rs. 90 lakh for putting up a bio-gas plant for producing 440 KW power using solid wastes generated by the Thanjavur municipality. Welcoming the move, people of Thanjavur said that it would achieve two objectives. It would help solve the power problem and second would help solid waste management.

A recent study taken up by a team of researchers from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Chennai, brought to light the serious threat of extinction the coral reef colonies and mangrove forests in the Palk Bay are facing. At present, only two per cent of the coral reefs survive in the area.

Global warming, siltation, release of untreated raw sewage into the water bodies and overgrowth of algae were stated to be the three important reasons for the possible disappearance of coral colonies and its associated organisms from the Palk Bay area.

The Potential Linked Credit Plan (PLP) for 2013-14 for Thanjavur district prepared by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) envisages a credit flow of Rs. 3,489 crore.

The plan was released by K. Baskaran, District Collector, at the bankers meeting on Thursday. S.T. Ravikumar, Assistant General Manager, District Development, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD); Raghu Vatsa Chari, Chief Regional Manager of Indian Overseas Bank; and Gnanavel, Assistant General Manager, Reserve Bank of India; were present.

Farmers are opting for the real estate option due to poor agricultural conditions

Pushed by unsettling agricultural conditions and pulled by lucrative real estate deals, farmers across the famed and fertile Cauvery delta in Tamil Nadu are selling their lands to real estate developers. In Amma Chatram, Marudhanallur, Tirunageswarm, Mathur, and in a host of other villages in Thanjavur and adjacent districts, farmlands are being converted to residential plots at a galloping rate.

Farmers protest against the Central clearance for coal bed methane exploration in Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu, as they fear it will devastate agriculture in Tiruvarur and Thanjavur districts.

The Centre should extend Rs. 1,000-crore aid to farmers of Tamil Nadu who have been facing an unprecedented drought in the wake of monsoon failure, P. Shanmugam, State general secretary, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, said.

He told reporters here on Monday that nine farmers in various parts of the State had committed suicide recently, owing to crop failure. The Chief Minister did not announce relief for their families. Each family should be compensated to the tune of Rs. 10 lakh, besides being provided government jobs.

Committee makes note of the “preparedness” shown by it

The manner in which the State Government responded to the outbreak of dengue fever during the recent epidemic is a model that can be emulated elsewhere in the country, B.K. Tyagi, Director, Centre for Research in Medical Entomology (CRME), here has said. A national-level committee formed recently by the Union Health Ministry to investigate into various public health issues had taken note of the “preparedness” shown by the State Government, its Health Department and public participation in tackling dengue outbreak, he said.

Will be valid for a period of five years

The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has granted environment clearance for 11 more sand quarries in the Cauvery-Coleroon river basin. A few days ago, the SEIAA had granted clearance for 10 new sand quarries in Tiruchi, Karur, Ariyalur, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur and Namakkal districts. In the second batch of clearance, 11 quarries have been approved, sources told The Hindu on Friday.

The Madras High Court has permitted 10 sand quarries on the Cauvery-Coleroon river beds to continue its operations for a further period of two months.