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TN government orders release of water from Mettur dam from July 19
In a major relief for farmers of the Cauvery delta region, the Tamil Nadu government today ordered release of water from the Mettur Dam from July 19.
By
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Chennai
This development comes in the wake of PWD officials stating the inflow into the Mettur dam from reservoirs in Karnataka crossed over one lakh cusecs on Monday after a period of five years.
In a statement, Palaniswami stated that owing to the strong southwest monsoon season, there was continuous downpour in the catchment area of Cauvery river following which the inflow to Mettur dam has increased steadily.
Under the circumstance, a meeting was convened with senior ministers and higher officials to discuss the situation. It was decided that Cauvery water from Mettur dam would be released for cultivation on July 19, after officials informed that the rainfall would continue for some days. With the release of water, 700 ponds and water bodies would be filled apart from recharging the groundwater table.
The Agriculture department was directed to keep stock of long term paddy varieties such as CR 1009, CR 1109 sub1, ATT 49 in the agriculture extension centres. The department was also directed to keep stock of required fertilizers in all the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies.
The Mettur dam last registered an inflow of one lakh fifty thousand cusecs in 2013 and it breached the one lakh mark on Monday. With a steady jump in the inflow, the water level in the dam surged to 92 feet as against its full capacity of 120 feet on Monday evening, PWD officials said.
At Biligundulu, the entry point to Tamil Nadu, the Central Water Commission officials recorded 96,000 cusecs at 9 am, which increased to one lakh cusecs at 2 pm and further to 1.6 lakh cusecs at 4 pm.
Due to heavy flooding, the Hogenakkal falls was sealed and tourists were barred from entering the spot. People living in villages abutting the Cauvery from Hogenakkal to Mettur were advised to move to safer destinations.
Stop desilting work, use discharge to fill water bodies: Ryots
Farmers in delta districts said the opening of Mettur dam for irrigation on July 19 may not be useful for the Samba cultivation in the initial days as the crop raised would be affected during the Northeast monsoon season and suggested that the released water be used to fill up the water bodies in the region.
They also appealed to the government to put on hold the ongoing Kudimaramathu works scheduled for 45 days till August 15 and resume the same after the closure of the Mettur dam. Stating that maintenance work in several canals, including the one at Thambikkottai, was in progress, Mannargudi S Ranganathan, general secretary of Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association, said, “The civil works should be closely monitored and completed before the discharge from Stanley reservoir reaches Thambikottai canal.” PS Masilamani, deputy secretary of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, said the Government has realised there was no other option but to open the dam.
The present date announced by the CM for opening the Mettur dam would not be benefit the samba cultivation in the initial days, he said and added that the quantum that would be released from July 19 should be used for filling up the water bodies across the delta region.
Meanwhile, N Veerasekaran, state spokesperson, Bharathiya Kisan Sangam, said the ongoing kudimaramathu works should be stopped.
“They must be put on hold and resumed after the discharge from Mettur dam is stopped. Otherwise, the entire process will go waste,” he said.
Echoing his views, Puliyur A Nagarajan, state president of Tamil Maanila Katchi (farmers’ wing) said the kudimaramathu works cannot be carried out once the water bodies get filled up. So, the State government should stop the Rs 328 crore drive and resume it in January 2019.
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