Ramadoss: Declare Tamil Nadu drought-hit

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, party founder leader Ramadoss said that as the central technical committee appointed by the Supreme Court had concluded its inspection of dams and farmlands fed by the Cauvery in both the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and had returned to Delhi, leaders of various parties have started expressing their views on the prevailing situation. However, it has now become certain that the samba crop raised in over 16 lakh hectares would not get Cauvery water this year. 

So, there were only two options to save the standing crops, one - either Karnataka should release enough water or the catchment areas of Cauvery in Karnataka should receive heavy rains. Generally, the seven districts in the central part of the state, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Ariyalur, Tiruchy, Cuddalore and Pudukottai, go for samba crop in large tracts around May every year. For a good harvest, farmers would require water till January end. 

Though the current discharge from Mettur dam was being maintained at 12,000 cusecs, a majority of the parts in the delta region, particularly the tail-end areas, have not received the water. It is said that at least 20,000 cusecs was required to irrigate the lands. 

The storage at present in Mettur dam was only 32 tmc. Of this, 20 tmc should be kept as reserve. Therefore, with the present storage in the dam, it would be possible to meet the need for only 12 days. If the 20,000 cusecs was released, then the dam could cater to the irrigation needs only for six days, Ramadoss explained. Further, the weather forecast says that the north east monsoon would commence only the end of this month. The late arrival would not be of much use to the standing crops, he cautioned. 

Besides these, the Centre’s stand was in no mood to consider the plight of TN. So, there seems to be little chance to save this year’s samba crop. Hence, the delta and other regions that rely on Cauvery water for all their needs should be declared drought hit. Farmers and landless agricultural laborers irrespective of their status should be provided with a compensation of Rs 25,000 per acre and a one-time assistance respectively, he suggested.