CHENNAI: Pointing out that Samba and Thaladi crops in Cauvery irrigated districts are withering without water, PMK founder S Ramadoss urged the state government to release water from Mettur Dam.

In a statement, the senior leader said that usually samba and thaladi crops would be cultivated in 15 lakh acres of land in Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Ariyalur and other districts. "Water from Mettur would be released till January 28 for the season. But, water was not released, not even for a day for samba cultivation. Now, crops have been cultivated on only half of the usually cultivated land. As there were no rains during the last two weeks, crops have started to wither, " he said.

He recalled that kuruvai crops in 2 lakh acres were damaged due to lack of water and the farmers faced loss. "If samba also fails, they will suffer more. Presently, Mettur dam has 34 TMC of water. If water is released at 6,000 cusecs for 10 days, the crop can be saved. This will take only 5 TMC, " he said.