ERODE: Keezhbavani farmers welfare association appealed to the Centre and State to bring the Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) under the Cauvery Management Authority (CMA) and regulatory committee to streamline water distribution from the LBP dam for both old and new ayacuts of the dam, having nearly 2.5 lakh acre.
In a memorandum, the association president lawyer C Nallasamy said that with the appointment of all members of the CMA and committee and establishment of their offices at New Delhi and Bengaluru, both of them are going to function shortly.
The Bavani river and the dam came in the Cauvery basin and as per the Cauvery tribunal order, 2.07 lakh acre new ayacut should get 27.95 tmc and over 40,000 acre in old ayacut 8.13 tmc every year for samba season and the dam should not be opened for kuruvai season.
As there was good rainfall in the Nilgiris district, the inflow to the dam was high and now, it has 13 tmc water out of its total capacity of 32.8 tmc. Hence, water should be released for 1.035 lakh acre in the new ayacut which did not get water for the past two years on priority basis from August 1.
Only after that, water should be released for the old ayacuts and that too according to water level in the dam. The PWD were acting according to its whims and fancies so far in releasing water for the ayacuts and hereafter it should follow the tribunal order strictly and for which the ayacuts, river and dam should be brought under the CMA.
The district administration and PWD should hereafter act in fair manner in water releasing system, he pleaded.