more-in Thoothukudi Salt pans in the district have had a below par run this year with occasional rains throughout the year dampening the production. With the onset of rains early this month, salt production has come to a halt. Unseasonal rains through the year meant that the average harvest could not be reached. “Only around 15 lakh tonnes out of an average of 25 lakh tonnes has been reached this year, which is around 60%,” said A.R.A.S. Dhanabalan, secretary of Thoothukudi Small Scale Salt Manufacturers Association. Unseasonal rains before May affected the production to a large extent. During the off-season months, some workers would be engaged in the production of gypsum, starting in a month, which is an evaporite produced once a year, or once in a few years depending on the salt pan. While salt is formed at a water temperature of around 25°C, gypsum forms at a much lesser temperature of around 15°C. The demand for gypsum, which is used in cement manufacturing and a number of other purposes, has come down, says S. Petchimuthu, a salt pan owner. “Around 10 tonnes of gypsum can be produced per acre. However, as a number of industries also produce gypsum of high quality as a byproduct, the demand for our gypsum has come down,” he said. For most workers, however, the off-season months are usually bleak — a regular feature every year. On regular days, a male worker gets ?340 a day, while a female gets ?330, which is decided by the workers’ union during regular days. Now, a large number of salt pan workers would be out of employment, while some work as agricultural labourers and construction workers. We would be given a Diwali bonus of a few thousand rupees, says Madasamy, a salt pan worker. “We try to survive with that, and try to save some money here and there throughout the year.” Meanwhile, the workers have once again put forth their demand for a financial assistance of around ?5,000 for salt pan workers per month during off-season months to make their ends meet, a promise that Dravidian parties haven’t kept so far.

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