Cauvery issue out of ‘poll’ position

The AIADMK leaders feel that the heat generated by the Opposition over the issue would lose steam next year since farmers would be able to cultivate twice as the flow of Cauvery water into Mettur reservoir has been increasing fast. The party has been planning to attribute the release of water to the formation of Cauvery Water Management Authority rather than heavy rain this year. 

The AIADMK leaders had already held public meetings to claim victory on the Cauvery issue and explained the efforts of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa and the present government. 

The farmers organisations too had fallen silent after the formation of the CWMA as they feel that the Cauvery water is not an issue this year, one of the party functionaries said. He said the leaders of the farmers unions who were protesting against the Centre and state had started moving along political lines ahead of the Parliament elections. 

One of the farmers leaders Ayyakannu had started supporting actor Rajinikanth, while another leader PR Pandian had hailed the ruling party for the formation of the CWMA. He said many of the political outfits which came to the centrestage due to the Cauvery protests had receded to the background and the threat of such outfits eroding AIADMK votes had disappeared, the leader from the delta districts added. PWD officials said the storage in Mettur dam had reached 71.6 feet and the dam is receiving 34,426 cubic feet of water. 

The water level was 63.72 feet on July 9, rose to 65.15 feet on July 10 and 68.42 feet on July 11, the official said. In Karnataka, the KRS dam storage had reached 115.20 feet and its total capacity is 124.80 feet. The Kabini dam had reached its full level and water is being released from it causing floods along the Cauvery banks in Dharmapuri and Salem districts.