Tamil Nadu: Delta gets rain, but not enough for cultivation

TIRUCHY: Moderate to heavy rainfall was recorded in the districts across the Delta region from late Sunday hours to Monday, with maximum lashing urban areas than the rural parts, proving futile for cultivation. 

The rain is unlikely to provide water for irrigation, but might help in slightly recharging groundwater levels. However, the rains provided respite from soaring temperatures.

While the entire Delta region was affected by heat due to El Niño impact and the failed southwest monsoon, there was a little hope that the IMD had predicted heavy downpour during September. But that too failed to a certain extent, and so the farmers waited for rainfall, as the Mettur storage had started to decline and the release of water was fixed for just 45 days.

Though the sky used to be overcast every day in the past couple of weeks, there was no rain.  However, in the late hours of Sunday, the Delta region started to receive widespread rainfall. 

Among the districts, Tiruchy received the maximum rainfall, with a total of 344 mm and an average of 14.35 mm. Tiruchy Junction received the maximum rainfall of 87 mm, while Tiruchy town received 62 mm of rainfall.

Since the urban parts of the Delta region received moderate to heavy rainfall, districts like Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai received little rainfall, and the farmers said that their expectations proved futile.

With Cauvery flowing moderately,  the farmers are still waiting for a favourable situation for undergoing the samba cultivation.