Nainarkulam in Tirunelveli Town which would usually be brimming with water during this season every year may become bone dry soon as the southwest monsoon has belied this year.
| Photo Credit: FILE PICTURE
The belied southwest monsoon this year has smothered farming operations in Tirunelveli district while landing excruciating punch on neighbouring Tenkasi district’s tourism industry, which would usually be bustling with activities during this season every year.Since the southwest monsoon would bring in copious influx of water into the dams of Tirunelveli and Tenkasi districts, it would be deciding the fate of ‘kar’ paddy season every year. After this monsoon played truant this year, the precarious storage level in the dams, especially in Manimuthar and Papanasam dams, has discouraged the agriculturists from going in for ‘kar’ paddy cultivation.The farmers have so far raised agricultural crops, including paddy on only 5,676.98 hectares and the horticultural crops on 663.86 hectare, mostly in Vickramasingapuram, Ambasamudram, Kallidaikurichi and Cheranmahadevi areas as the farmers having their holdings in Tirunelveli or Palayamkottai are sceptical about their fortune due to poor rainfall.Even though water has been released from the Papanasam and Manimuthar Dams, paddy or banana has been raised only in the areas closer to the reservoirs like Vickramasingapuram, Ambasamudram, Kallidaikurichi and Cheranmahadevi areas. And, paddy procurement centres have been opened only in these areas – Paappaakudi, Therkku Kallidaikurichi, Ayansingampatti, Therkku Paappaankulam, Therkku Veeravanallur, Poongudaiyarkulam, Vadamalaisamudhram, Thediyoor and Sengulam.“The farmers, who have already been hit hard by the skyrocketing prices of chemical fertilizers and the pesticides, cannot take chances with poor storage in the dams. So, I’ve decided to wait for the next season – ‘pisanam’ paddy season between November and February in the northeast monsoon,” says farmer Maharajan of Palayamkottai.As most of the agriculturists are very much confident that there would be no rainfall during this season, vast tracts of lands in Tirunelveli and beyond are barren now.The southwest monsoon, which would usually bring heavy flow of water in all waterfalls of Courtallam and thereby ensure huge earnings from thousands of tourists from various parts of southern India towards this tiny town, has let down the business completely this year.“It is unprecedentedly hot here in Courtallam this year. Even the tourists, who would usually stay here at least for 2 days to enjoy bath in the waterfalls of Courtallam and the Paalaruvi in neighbouring Kerala, and electrifying weather here, wind-up their tour prematurely within a day due to poor flow of water in the Main Falls, Five Falls and the Old Courtallam Falls. Cancellations of rooms are hitting hard everyday the hotels, resorts and those who rent out 2 or 3 BHK houses to the tourists. There is no need to explain about the business loss to the eateries, teashops, autorickshaws and other small businesses in Courtallam,” says R. Selva Murugan, a cab driver from Tenkasi.Barring the bowl-like Gundar Dam, the smallest of the 5 reservoirs of Tenkasi district with the storage level of just 36 feet, all other dams have lesser water which will not be sufficient for irrigation of the paddy raised in the district during this ‘kar’ season.“This is very much disappointing... While tourism has suffered huge blow, the farmers are not prepared to gamble. Even the district administration has decided to organise the ‘Saaral Vizhaa 2026’ only for 5 days which would usually be an 8-day affair. So, the southwest monsoon this year has become a disastrous experience for us,” said a senior official attached to the Department of Agriculture. Published - July 20, 2026 09:16 pm IST
