MAYILADUTHURAI: Cauvery water reached the tail end regulator at Melaiyur in Mayiladuthurai district
on Thursday, nine days after water was released from Mettur dam. Farmers and officials welcomed the river at Melaiyur on Thursday and water was released through A and B irrigation channels for Kuruvai paddy cultivation.
However, farmers are worried over pending desilting works in narrower irrigation channels, which branch from A and B irrigation channels. Farmers would receive water in their fields only when water is released through all channels such as A, B, C, D, E, F and G. "We will release waters into C, D and channel branches once the desilting works are complete," an official from PWD-WRO said.
A and B irrigation channels, which are broader, were desilted by PWD using earthmovers under their special desilting scheme, while narrower channels like C, D and branches like E, F and G are being desilted by the rural development department using human workforce under the MGNREG scheme.
Though the PWD claims to have finished the work, works under the MGNREGS are allegedly yet to be completed at a few places.
R Rajasekar, a farmer representative from Mayiladuthurai, said, "The administration should ensure that water reaches the fields at the earliest. There should not be any 'turn regulation' for water adjustment anywhere until everyone receives water."
However, the regulator at Melaiyur is technically not the final stop, as a regulator was constructed in Dharmakulam at the river downstream of Melaiyur in 2020. The Melaiyur regulator is located at 5.6 km from the Cauvery river mouth in Poompuhar, and the Dharmakulam regulator is 1.6 km from the river mouth.
The Dharmakulam regulator was constructed to allow groundwater recharge between the two regulators and to prevent sea backwater intrusion.
Farmers in villages such as Dharamakulam, Melaiyur, Rasankulam, Keezhaperumpallam, Melaperumpallam, Sayavanam, Kaveripoompattinam, and Vanagirikuppam are dependent on groundwater recharge and wanted water to reach the Dharmakulam regulator.
"Sufficient water should be released to ensure that those who live downstream are also benefited," said P Rajadurai, a farmer-representative from Melaiyur.