THANJAVUR: Worried over the inflow into the Mettur dam dwindling since August 20, farmers in the delta region reiterate the need to get Cauvery water from Karnataka as per the monthly schedule stipulated by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) and the SC so as to raise samba paddy successfully.
Karnataka started releasing a significant quantity of Cauvery water to TN only when the Kabini reservoir reached its full capacity on July 14. When the monsoon intensified from July 17, the floodwater that could not be stored in the Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) reservoirs was released to TN.
Against this background, the inflow into the reservoir, which was 17,162 cusecs on August 18, gradually came down. On August 28, it was 4,551 cusecs.
A tentative target of 10.30 lakh acres has been fixed for the seasonal paddy’s cultivation in the Cauvery delta districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai.
“The present storage level (88 tmcft) at Mettur will not be enough. TN has to get its quota of 36.14 tmcft for September,” said senior agro technologist P Kalaivanan.
Floodwater released in advance cannot be taken into account, he added.