Centre unlikely to help TN farmers

Even the farmers’ desperate attempt by running naked in Lutyens’s Delhi in April last year, failed to draw Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attention to their plight. 

Among the farmers who protested in Delhi last year demanding the release of Cauvery was P Ayyakannu, who represents Desiya-Thennindhiya Nathigal Inaippu Vivasayigal Sangam (National-South Indian Rivers Interlinking Farmers Association). 

“The existing water level in the Mettur dam will not be enough to complete Samba cultivation. Its prospects appear bleak in the delta region this year. There is a high possibility that around five lakhs acres of crops will fail,” said Ayyakannu. 

While the crops need water for at least 50 days, going by the present scenario, water will flow in the Cauvery river only for 10 to 15 days, he added. 

“While state government continues to be a mute spectator while farmers suffer, the Centre is also adding to our woes by not forming Cauvery Management Board even after the Supreme Court directed it to do so,” Ayyakannu said.

Meanwhile, water experts expressed concern over lack of a water management system in the state. Professor S Janakarajan from the Madras Institute of Development and a water expert blamed the state government for not assessing the situation before releasing water from Stanley reservoir for irrigation. 

“Nowadays, water is being discharged from Mettur dam for political reasons. There should be initial assessment and the government should properly calculate the amount of water that we need for drinking and irrigation,” said Ayyakannu. 

He added that such political games would make the farmers suffer and suffer losses. “When farmers are growing Kuruvai, Samba and other crops, it is the government’s responsibility to inform farmers about the amount of water available and advise them on what they should cultivate accordingly,” Ayyakannu said.