Poor water storage in Mettur dam worries farmers
Severe drought reduced inflow of water into the dam to 95 cusecs per second on May 29. Water level was at 35 feet with storage of 9.65 tmcft of water.
Salem: Lack of adequate water storage in Mettur dam worries farmers in the Cauvery delta region, as there are few chances for release of water from the dam on June 12, the traditional date, for the coming ‘kuruvai’ crop season.
Water from Mettur dam used to be released on June 12 every year. However, this has been delayed for the past five years due to less rain in water catchment areas of the reservoir and following Karnataka government’s refusal to release water into the Cauvery as per the Supreme Court’s directions.
Severe drought reduced inflow of water into the dam to 95 cusecs per second on May 29. Water level was at 35 feet with storage of 9.65 tmcft of water. Meanwhile, 500 cusecs of water was released from the dam for drinking water supply. By Tuesday evening, inflow of water increased to 5,060 cusecs following recent rains.
Water level is at 35.84 feet with storage of 10.04 tmcft of water and about 500 cusecs of water is being released from the dam.
Commenting on the issue, deputy president of the joint action committee of farmers association, R Sugumaran, said, “farmers in the delta region did not cultivate crops in the kuruvai season for the last six years. They have not taken any preparatory measures to begin cultivation for the coming season and if the current situation continues, farmers will suffer severely. Raising of cattle is the only livelihood opportunity for farmers in this region.”
He urged state government to waive loans taken by farmers and also settle the pending amounts for procured sugarcane from cane-growers.