Cauvery water to quench farmers' thirst

Bengaluru: The state government, which is under pressure from farmers in the Cauvery basin for supply of  water,  has decided to release some of it to tanks fed by its four reservoirs for recharging the ground water and drinking purposes.

But the release of the water will not help farmers cultivate paddy over the 2.68 acres devoted to it in the basin as the government has warned them against it and also advised them to stay off  sugarcane, and only opt for rain-fed cultivation.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with legislators and the Member of Parliament from Mandya district, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Cauvery basin had received the worst monsoon of the last 46 years this year and the ground water had touched a low of 1,500 feet. 

“As against the 53.52 tmc ft of water stored in the reservoirs during this time last year, they are currently left with only 45 tmc ft of  storage. Even the inflow from the catchment areas of KRS, Kabini, Harangi and Hemavathi is lesser than last year. All the rain forecasts have failed,” he added grimly.

Explaining that the present need was for release of water for ground water recharge and meeting the drinking water needs of people living downstream of the reservoirs, he said it could not be utilised for anything else, including farming.

He also ruled out compensating  farmers for crop loss if they opted to cultivate  paddy despite the water shortage.

Meanwhile, according to those present at the meeting, the water would be released to the tanks starting Wednesday night and it would take at least five tmc ft  to fill all of them and the lakes in about a month. If the dry spell continued, one or two more tmc ft of water could be released, they revealed.