Skip Kuruvai, go for alternative crops, agriculture experts advise farmers

According to agro technocrats of the Thanjavur chapter of the association, P Venkatesan, V Palaniappan and P Kalaivanan, drought in the delta region has turned the situation worse this year. 

In the last 150 years, 1892, 1897 and 1909 have been the worst rainfall years during the north-east monsoon. It was less than 300 mm during the three years. However, on those occasions, the region did not witness a drought, because there were not so many dams across the Cauvery then and the quantum that flowed in the river proved to be sufficient for both drinking and irrigation. Even after the dams were built, there had been monsoon failure in 1974 and 1980, when the rainfall received was less than 250 mm. The quantum released from Mettur was 278 tmc and 436 tmc respectively, then. But, the groundwater level did not deplete to an unprecedented level like in the present situation. 

However, 2016 was the worst in terms of rainfall. The north-east monsoon failed and only 229 mm of rain was received in the delta region. Added to this, only 49.25 tmc of water was released from Mettur dam for irrigation.

As the rainfall and run of surface water in rivers had gone down during the last 15 months, the groundwater level too dipped drastically. Moreover, during the last kuruvai samba and thalady seasons, groundwater was exploited to the maixmum. 

During this summer, in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagappattinam districts, a total area of 14,915 hectares has been covered under paddy and due to absence of rain and scorching heat, groundwater dependency has gone up manifold, officials said.