Cyclone Gaja: Tamil Nadu govt sanctions Rs 7.6 crore to buy tree cutters, other machines

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday sanctioned Rs 7.6 crore to procure machines to cut and remove fallen trees in cyclone Gaja-affected districts.
Following a request from the agriculture engineering department, agriculture secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi issued an order on Wednesday to purchase about 500 heavy duty chainsaws, wood chipper machines, winch machines, wood splitter machines and shredder-cum-pulverizers (all 20 each).

“The government has decided to accept the proposal and accord financial sanction under the National Agriculture Development Programme to purchase…machinery to tackle the situation caused by cyclone Gaja…” the order said.

Much of the farming community in Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Pudukottai districts cultivate coconut as perennial crops. Most of the coconut trees were either uprooted or broken due to very high velocity of cyclonic wind.

Farmers face difficulties in removing the heavy weight coconut trees that are fallen. They face non-availability of labour and financial crunch.

“Unless the farmers remove these uprooted coconut trees from their fields, cultivation cannot be continued,” the order quoting the chief engineer (Agriculture Engineering) said.

The only option is to remove the trees by machines and solution is to chop the trunks and transform them into dust. The leaves and small parts that are cut from the fallen trees can be put into shredder-cum-pulverizer for converting them into organic manure.

The trunk can be dragged out of the field and placed on the boundary so that they can be chopped later.

Winch machines, shredder-cum-pulverizer and wood splitter machines should be procured and attached to tractors, the order said.