Mettur reservoir (Photo: X)
Chennai: The State government has ordered the reduction in the release of water from the Mettur reservoir to Chennai city from 2,100 cusecs to 1,500 cuses, which could impact the water supply position in the State capital.
An official press release said on Tuesday that release of water through River Cauvery and River Coleroon to the Veeranam Lake, from where water is drawn to meet the needs of Chennai city, was reduced on Monday evening and the same flow would be maintained until further orders.
The step has been apparently prompted by the low storage position in Mettur, which stood at 42.7 feet on Tuesday as against the full level of 120 feet.
Earlier on Friday, State Agriculture Minister M R K Panneerselvam announced that Mettur reservoir would not be opened on June 12 to enable farmers take up Kuruvai paddy cultivation. Normally 125 TMC feet water is released from Mettur between June 12 and September 15 for Kuruvai cultivation.
Since the government has announced its inability to keep the date, there is no possibility of the farmers taking up the short term paddy cultivation in 5.26 lakh acres of the Cauvery delta region this year. In the past couple of years the date had been advanced due to adequate storage of water.
One of the reasons for the low storage in Mettur is due to Karnataka’s refusal to honour the orders of the various bodies set up to decide on the amount of water to be shared with Tamil Nadu.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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