Anbumani says Mettur water release unlikely, seeks input subsidy of Rs 5,000 per acre of Kuruvai

CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday urged the Tamil Nadu government to immediately announce a comprehensive Kuruvai package, including an input subsidy of Rs 5,000 per acre, stating that the opening of the Mettur Dam for Kuruvai cultivation this year appears unlikely due to dwindling water levels and poor inflows.

Anbumani noted that water is traditionally released from the Mettur Dam on June 12 every year to support Kuruvai cultivation in Cauvery delta districts, including Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai. However, the dam, which has a total storage capacity of 93.47 TMC, currently holds only 41.60 TMC of water, with the water level standing at 79 feet, he noted.

He said that for water to be released for irrigation, the reservoir level should exceed 90 feet and receive inflows of at least 1.5 TMC per day. According to him, the reservoir requires an additional 12 TMC of water and inflows of around 18,000 cusecs to sustain irrigation throughout the Kuruvai season.

Anbumani pointed out that the four major Cauvery reservoirs in Karnataka -- Krishna Raja Sagar, Kabini, Harangi and Hemavathi together hold only 33.45 TMC of water, which is just 29.08 per cent of their combined storage capacity of 114.57 TMC. Given the low storage levels, he said Karnataka is unlikely to release water to Tamil Nadu in the immediate future.

Recalling that Kuruvai cultivation covered 6.13 lakh acres last year, Anbumani warned that the cultivated area could fall below 3 lakh acres this season if water is not released from Mettur on schedule. Such a situation would result in income losses for farmers and affect employment opportunities for agricultural labourers, he said.

To mitigate the impact, he urged the state government to support farmers in undertaking Kuruvai cultivation using groundwater resources. He called for the immediate announcement of the Kuruvai special package, including subsidised seeds, fertilisers and micronutrients for farmers across Tamil Nadu.

Anbumani also demanded that the scheme be extended to all eligible farmers without any acreage cap. In addition, he urged the government to ensure an uninterrupted three-phase power supply round the clock and provide an input subsidy of Rs 5,000 per acre to support cultivation during the season.