Thoothukudi realtors gorge salt pans

THOOTHUKUDI: Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation have led to the famous salt  pans of Thoothukudi being rapidly turned into real estate plots.Thoothukudi, synonymous for production of quality salt, is now witnessing shrinking salt pans, as warehouses, industries and residential plots are quickly taking over the landscape. The district, encompassing 25,000 acres of salt pans, stands second in the country in salt production next only to Gujarat, producing an average of 20 lakh tonnes of salt annually and providing employment to 40,000 workers. Over 3,000 salt pans can be found in various parts of Thoothukudi. Being a port city, warehouses, industries and residential plots are fast coming up, especially in the southern part of the city. The scene is quite obvious from Kamaraj College up to Arumuganeri. According to realtors in the city, salt pans which sold for Rs 2 lakh per acre five years ago, are now being sold at more than Rs 40 lakh.“Shortage of workforce, decrease in density of water, lack of support from the government and more quality restrictions have made salt manufacturers to think of alternative business options and to dispose of the pans,” ARAS Dhanabalan, Secretary, Thoothukudi Small Scale Salt Manufacturers’ Association told Express.According to him, shortage of manpower to manufacture salt in pans is today a reality and the production of quality salt has also gone down. Since youngsters prefer a decent paying job to meet their day-to-day expenses, there is a dearth of labourers in salt pans. Also nowadays, water is pumped to salt pans using electric motors, which involves huge production cost. Unlike agriculture, the government does not provide free electricity for salt production.“Though we are not demanding free electricity, we have been continuously asking the government to give power for salt pans at a subsidised rate but our efforts have been futile,” said Dhanabalan. He also noted that quality restrictions imposed by the government on salt naturally harvested and a penalty for not meeting the standards are other reasons for decrease in production and extinction of salt pans.On the other side, a salt manufacturer gets a hefty sum for his land if he sells it to a realtor, which he may not get in producing salt for decades. “If the situation persists Thoothukudi might lose 50 per cent of its salt pans in another 10 years.”