MADURAI: As sporadic rainfall in the district over the past couple of days has increased storage levels of reservoirs, the farmers have urged the authorities to raise the shutters of Vaigai Dam at the earliest. Irrigation woes had been plaguing the cultivation as Kuruvai season is nearing harvest stage and the Samba season is commencing. The PWD department has decided to host a meeting with farmers and agriculture department officials on Thursday to discuss the release of water.
After missing out on the Kuruvai season cultivation owing to irrigation woes, many farmers in Madurai district have been waiting for the onset of monsoon to begin sowing. Though almost a month has passed since the Samba season began, sowing has begun in only a couple of hundreds of hectares in the district.
M P Raman, honorary president of the Tamil Nadu Federation of All Farmers Association, said, "Almost all the farmers from the district have missed out on the first crop cultivation due to irrigation woes. Even to commence the second crop cultivation (Samba paddy), we are several days behind."
A senior official from the PWD department told TNIE that following the recent rain the inflow to the Periyar dam has increased to 2,800 causes and the outflow is being maintained at 1300 cusecs. Owing to the increase in inflow the dam storage has risen to 123.45 ft. Accordingly, the inflow to Vaigai has also risen nominally in the past couple of days.
Over the past month, the storage has risen from 3.5 TMC to 5.5 TMC in the dams. With the onset of monsoon, the storage levels are likely to increase based on the rainfall in catchment areas. Considering the welfare of the farmers, the PWD department along with the agriculture department will be hosting a special meeting on Thursday in Madurai to discuss water release.