Collector inspected damaged banana plantations

 on Sunday inspected the areas where banana plantations were damaged due to strong gale accompanied by heavy rainfall in the district. He visited various villages within the limits of Velliyankadu and Thekkampatti panchayats in the district and had a meeting with Mettupalayam tahsildar Chandran and assistant director of horticulture department Sussendra.
Areas including Sirumugai, Karamadai, Thekkampatti, Velliyankadu and Tholampalayam in the district witnessed heavy rain with gale on April 21. It in turn has damaged banana plantations in the regions.
The collector directed the officials to take necessary steps to insure the plantations. Speaking to reporters, he said, “Banana plantations at four villages in Annur block and 13 villages in Mettupalayam block were damaged due to the gale accompanied with heavy rainfall on April 21. Revenue and horticulture department estimated the damaged trees to be 1.46 lakh. We have started collecting their land and bank details from affected farmers. Once the loss is estimated, the details would be submitted to the state government to get compensation.”
Hinting that crop insurance is the only way to reduce revenue loss when crops are damaged, he said that farmers have said that they have been facing certain difficulties in doing crop insurance and it would be sorted out at the earliest. He also said that the district administration has formed a special team to monitor the smuggling of minerals and stringent action would be taken against the smugglers.
Mettupalayam MLA AK Selvaraj, councilors and officials from agriculture department were present during the inspection.