Without felling karuvelam trees, which were rampant in the district, the officials had given wrong information that they have been removed, farmers complained at the grievance redress meeting held at the Sivaganga Collectorate on Friday.
District Collector P. Akash, who chaired the meeting, said that the district administration would verify the information on karuvelam trees as per the High Court order and take action.
The farmers said that between Lakshmipuram and Saveriarpattinam, which was about four kilometres, the officials claimed that the karuvelam trees had been felled, while physical checks showed they were still alive and posing threat to the eco-system.
The farmers also suggested that the district administration could involve self-help groups and NGOs in removing the karuvelam trees.
When Abdul Rahman, a farmer from Samiarpatti, raised eyebrows over the lackadaisical attitude of some officials in not issuing NOC for lifting silt from the approved or identified waterbodies, Mr Akash intervened and said that the district had 2,464 waterbodies from which soil could be lifted by the farmers. So far, 1,942 tanks, from where the soil could be taken are available online, he added.
By the end of this year, the district administration had plans to desilt 2,000 tanks with private participation, he said and also assured that the farmers would not be charged extra at the DPCs. He said that for engaging daily wage earners at the DPCs, they would be given higher wages, which would not be collected/charged from the farmers.
When a farmer asked about the long pending project to link Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar river, the Collector said that the Chief Minister was aware of the issue and soon the government would spell out in this connection. On the complaints of poor claim settlement by some of the private insurers, the officials said that they would look into it.
The proposal to encourage public sector insurance companies to collect premium from the farmers for crop insurance would be sent to the State government for approval, the Collector said.
Published - July 10, 2026 09:51 pm IST