Thanjavur: With every day becoming important for delta farmers, as opening of Mettur dam on June 12 for taking up cultivation of ‘Kuruvai’-short term crop is just a little over a month away, happenings at the Supreme court on Cauvery on Thursday, came as a shock for the farmers of Cauvery delta districts.
Even as they were expecting that Central government will file a draft scheme for formation of CMB on Thursday, its failure to do so, citing tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Union ministers for election in Karnataka, has disappointed them
There was no ‘Kuruvai’ for the past six years for want of water in canal irrigated areas and ‘Samba-long term crop’ also ran into rough weather in some years. Farmers expectation this year was that CMB will be formed and hence they could take up ‘Kuruvai’ crop this year.
To add salt to their wounds, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has outright rejected that Karnataka is not in a position to release four tmcft of water as ordered by the court on Thursday.
‘Kuruvai’, a short-term crop is a money spinner and is normally raised on 1.68 lakh hectares in delta districts. Samba, the long-term crop is raised on 2.99 lakh hectares and ‘Thaladi’ (cultivated in areas after kuruvai harvest) is raised on 1.44 lakh hectares normally in the past.
But ‘Kuruvai’ has become a thing of the past as it had not been raised for the past six years in the major canal irrigated areas except in some pump-set irrigated areas. In Thanjavur district alone, ‘Kuruvai’ will be raised on 45,000 hectares i.e. 1.12,000 acres. This has come down to 18,000 hectares-only in pump-set irrigated areas. Similar is the situation in Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts where ‘Kuruvai’ under canal irrigated area is 90 per cent.
S. Ranganathan, Secretary of Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association, said that “our expectation was that CMB will be formed and management of reservoirs will come under its control and that we will get water without any hitch. But it is not so. At least before the next hearing on May 8, Central government should take over the control of all reservoirs in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and form a scheme for implementing court order.
“If Central government takes over the control of reservoirs in the two states, it will have time of one-and-a-half month before water is to be released for ‘Kuruvai’ on June 12 to formulate the “scheme”, and implement the court order. We can then have ‘Kuruvai’ this year. Any mechanism established under section 6A of the Inter State Water Disputes Act will have the same force as a court order,” Ranganathan added.
Mr. P.R. Pandian, coordinator of ‘Thamizhaga Anaithu Vivasaya Sangangalin Orunginaippu Kuzhu’ said that it was not fair on the part of the Central government to ask for more time citing the election tour of Prime Minister in Karnataka for elections as the court has given time thrice in the past and it was expected that a final decision will come on Thursday.
It is also puzzling why apex court is asking Karnataka government instead of Central government under whose control (Union Water Resources Ministry) administrative activities of Cauvery has come after it gazetted the final award of the Cauvery water disputes tribunal, he contended, even as ground-zero seems set for more agitations.
Moreover, the model code of conduct is in place in Karnataka where election process is going on and the state is under the control of Election Commission of India (ECI). To who the apex court is asking questions in Karnataka is not known, Pandian said. “To offset this, the apex court has ordered release of 4 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu which Karnataka Chief Minister rejected outright. Tamil Nadu is continuously betrayed,” added Mr. Pandian.
