CHENNAI: Considering the requests from farmers, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday ordered the release of water from the Mettur Dam for irrigation from Saturday (February 3).
"Considering the requests from the Delta farmers, Chief Minister MK Stalin has ordered to release of two TMC of water from Mettur dam from February 3, Saturday. Therefore, farmers are requested to use this irrigation water sparingly to protect and benefit the Samba rice crop," a release from the state government read.
Earlier, the farmers of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Nagapattinam urged the state government to assess the Samba crops damages which caused by the lack of rainfall during the North-East monsoon season and the shortage of Cauvery river water.
A total of 30 committees were formed and a field survey was carried out in 298 villages of the Delta region.
According to the report of the committees, a total of 22,774 acres of samba paddy crops are known to be affected by the shortage of irrigation water in the Delta region.