TIRUCHY: Ahead of the scheduled release of water from the Mettur dam on Monday, farmer organisations in the delta region have called upon the PWD-Water Resources Department officials to ensure that water reaches the tail end of the delta districts with no disruption.
The organisations have also urged the state government to announce the Kuruvai package for the season without delay. P Ayyakkannu of the Desiya Thenninthiya Nathigal Inaippu Vivasayigal Sangam said, "Kuruvai cultivation requires water for at least three months; but the established practice is that Tamil Nadu is used as a drain when there is a flood in neighbouring Karnataka.
This affects our crops. Apart from that, we don't get the required water at the required time. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) has suggested that water be released every month, and the Supreme Court has suggested the same." He added, "Around 3,000-10,000 cusecs of water is released from the Mettur dam, but one thousand million cubic feet (tmc) is used up within a day.
For the water to reach the tail end, we'll need at least 15,000 cusecs, but we won't get that much water. The state government should take the required action for it." Pu Vishwanathan, state president of the Tamil Nadu Tank and River Irrigation Farmer's Association, said,"Chief Minister Stalin during his Tiruchy visit had proudly stated that last year's Kuruvai harvest was an agricultural revolution, and that he expected 5.5 lakh hectares of Kuruvai in the delta region this year as well. But the state government so far has been silent about the Kuruvai package.
Desilting is still on in many areas of the tail end districts, and this could potentially affect the flow of water." Vayalur Rajendran N, a farmer leader from the Tamil Manila Congress said, "The water, when released from Mettur, takes 35 to 50 days to reach Nagapattinam and many times it doesn't. Illegal sand mining and desilting along the river path has been a factor in causing the water flow to slow down. It is upto respective district administrations to take steps to ensure the water flow in their limits."
A senior PWD-WRO official from Tiruchy said, "We are taking all possible steps to ensure water from the Cauvery reaches the tail end. Around 95 percent of desilting works have been completed. The water would take around two days to reach Mayanur dam and two-and-a-half days to Tiruchy from Mettur.
About increasing the water quantity, it's a government policy and we can only convey the farmer's requirements to the government." A senior agriculture department official said the kuruvai package would be announced any day in the coming week.