Open Mettur dam at least for a single Samba crop: Farmers

They wanted the state to open the Mettur dam for irrigation of samba crop. Puliyur Nagarajan, State president of the TMC farmers wing, who led the protest, said Karnataka should have released 110 tmc by August end. However, it has released only 20 tmc, he said. “The government should prevail upon Karnataka to release the water as per the final award of the Cauvery Tribunal and make arrangement to release 25,000 cusecs so that water will reach the tail end areas of the delta,” he added.

In the petition, the farmers stated that the state should insist the Centre to constitute the Cauvery management Board (CMB). They also wanted Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagappattinam, Tiruchy, Pudukkottai, Cuddalore and Karur to be declared as a protected agricultural zone. They demanded that permission should not be granted for Coal Bed Methane (CMB), hydrocarbon, shale gas extraction or sinking of new wells for oil and gas.

They also wanted the Union Government to allocate Rs 14,500 crore for rejuvenation of the Cauvery system as requested by the state.