The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Illegal prawn farms wreak havoc in Nagapattinam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 22, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Illegal prawn farms wreak havoc in Nagapattinam

By T. Ramakrishnan

NAGAPATTINAM, DEC. 21 . Farmers of Nagapattinam district are now more worried than ever. The reason is the `unending' problem of inundation. The problem is not new to the flat terrain close to the coast. But, it has become serious this year, particularly since late October.

Farmers here say the presence of a large number of shrimp farms has made the situation worse. The farms do not have exclusive infrastructure for drawing water from the sea and draining out the wastewater.

At several places, the farm bunds have encroached upon the drainage channels or watercourses. The sheets of water covering the paddy fields at places around Thalaignayiru and Vedaranyam support the farmers' claim.

Survey of ponds

The problem has become so serious that the district administration could no longer ignore the complaints. The administration will now undertake a "thorough survey of ponds", where the prawn farms are located, for identifying the encroached areas. All the prawn farms, permitted by the authorities, will now have to lay up drains.

But, this does not give solace to the critics. "All the prawn farms have to be removed at once. There is no place for them here," says S. Jagananthan, a 93-year-old Gandhian and Sarovadaya leader, who has been in the forefront of a campaign against shrimp farms for over a decade.

Damage to ecology

The shrimp farms have caused an irreparable damage to the ecology of the coastal districts, particularly of Nagapattinam, and to the livelihood of agriculturists, Mr. Jaganathan says. The prawn farms "destroy" the groundwater, as they use saline water and "toxic steroids and chemicals".

It was on a petition filed by Mr. Jaganathan, who heads the Tamil Nadu Grama Swaraj Movement, that the Supreme Court issued an order in December 1996, permitting only traditional and improved farms.

But since then, the number of farms has only gone up. Moreover, the coastal areas of the Cauvery delta do not have the tradition of aquaculture, he says.

A.V. Murugaiyyan, district secretary of the Tamil Nadu Vivasaya Thozhilalar Sangam, affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), wonders how the farms have been set up in such large numbers when farmers who want to get power supply are asked hundreds of questions about the possible impact of their operations on the groundwater.

S. Sambandam, a farmers' leader at Thalaignaiyru and member of the Communist Party of India, says agriculturists are forced to sell off their land to shrimp farm owners when they find such farms coming up on the adjoining pieces of land. "In fact, they have to sell off their land at prices determined by the farm owners."

Mujeebu Shreek, district organiser of the National Agriculturists Awareness Movement, says the shrimp farm owners are very powerful and those who oppose them have to face social boycott.

A.P. Kalyanam, general secretary of the Federation of Farmers Associations (Tanjore, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts), asks if the Government can come out with an ordinance to deal with video piracy, why could it not bring in a law to deal with illegal prawn farms.

The gravity of the problem will be lessened substantially, if action is taken against unauthorised farms, he says.

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