CHENNAI: Opposition parties and farmers’ organisations on Friday expressed concern over the impact of the delayed release of Cauvery water from Mettur dam for Kuruvai cultivation.
The AIADMK, AMMK and PMK strongly criticised the state government’s handling of the situation and demanded measures such as crop loan waivers and uninterrupted power supply, among others.
The CPI and CPM-affiliated farmers’ associations sought enhanced subsidies and compensation for farmers affected by the water shortage.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, in a statement, said that farmers have been shocked and distressed by the failure to release water from the Mettur dam on the traditional date of June 12.
Charging that the TVK government had failed to honour its promise of waiving agricultural crop loans and had instead announced only nominal relief, the former CM also accused the government of reducing the duration of the three-phase power supply while farmers continued to face unannounced power cuts.
Palaniswami urged the government to immediately release water from the Mettur dam and ensure it reached the tail-end areas. AMMK general secretary T T V Dhinakaran said that farmers in the delta continue to suffer due to frequent unannounced power cuts that hampered irrigation.
“Farmers have a genuine doubt as to how to believe the government’s promise of 18 hours of uninterrupted electricity,” he said. He urged the government to provide a 24-hour three-phase power supply and implement a complete crop loan waiver without delay.
PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss urged the state to declare the delta as drought-affected and secure financial assistance from the centre. He called for tripartite consultations involving government officials, meteorologists and farmers to assess the feasibility of cultivating short-duration crops.
The farmers’ associations affiliated to the CPI and CPM said most of the subsidy allocation in the Kuruvai package had been earmarked for mechanised transplantation, seeds and inputs, and urged the government to extend it to manual transplantation and other cultivation activities.
The associations said that nearly 70% of farmers in the delta had lost their expected income from Kuruvai cultivation due to the non-availability of Cauvery water and requested CM Vijay to announce compensation for the affected farmers.
