Salem: Salem is staring at an acute water crisis as the water level in Mettur dam has dipped to an all-time low due to lack of rains. Water level has nosedived to a mere 41.43 feet as against the full capacity of 120 feet in the dam. With the decreasing storage levels, the outflow has been brought down to 1,000 cusecs, while the inflow into the dam stood at a mere 275 cusecs on Thursday.
Frustrated over withering crops due to insufficient water, farmers have sought a compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre from the state government. Even as monsoon has failed, Karnataka refused to release the required water as per the court order escalating trouble for farmers. If water level goes down further the district may also face acute shortage of water in the coming months. Water was released from the dam last on September 20, when storage level stood at 87 feet and outflow then was at 12,000 cusecs.
Water from Mettur dam is supplied to 12 districts. For delta farming, water should be released till January 28. However due to poor water storage, it may become nearly impossible to release water in sufficient quantity in the coming days for farming. R. Sugumaran, state vice-president of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association said that as 12,000 cusecs of water was released at an inappropriate time from the dam, it did not serve the purpose of farmers.
“Now the crops are withering and farmers are facing huge loss and are immersed neck deep in trouble. Farmers had cultivated crops by spending about ' 20,000-'50,000, but they all have dried. Hence the state government should give compensation of Rs 20,000 for each acre,” he said. As the groundlevel water has also dipped, farmers fear it may be challenging to rear cattle in the summer months.
