No end to farmers’ agony in Tamil Nadu

Water level in major reservoirs, mainly Mettur Stanley Reservoir, has already dipped to an alarming low. The 93.4tmcft capacity Mettur Dam has reached 22.9tmcft, less than a fourth of its full storage capacity. Factor in the current total live storage (around 40%) of the four reservoirs in Cauvery Basin in Karnataka and their habit of tapping water for irrigation in summer, farmers and water managers are worried about the ensuing crop season, which starts in June, unless an extraordinary turn of natural events either fill the dams or replenish the already depleted aquifers in delta region.

There is little hope of Mettur Dam keeping the paddy fields in Delta districts wet till transplanting Kuruvai seedlings from nursery to the fields, as 40% of the total 7-8 lakh acres of existing (standing) Samba crop needs at least another three wettings for a decent harvest now. 

So distressed are farmers after the Cauvery Management Board constitution imbroglio that some like Arupathi Kalyanam, general secretary of Federation of Farmers Associations – Cauvery Delta Tamil Nadu, are now pleading with the Centre and TN government to prevent Karnataka from tapping water for summer irrigation.

Read More: Centre unlikely to help TN farmers

“After the Cauvery dispute, farmers started relying on river water. Those with pump sets have been tapping groundwater to raise nurseries. They cannot do it this summer as they extracted a lot last summer. Insufficient monsoon did not replenish the shallow aquifers either. Salinity of groundwater has increased in areas 20 km off the coast,” Kalyanam complained.

“In summer, drinking water will be of priority. So, TN must approach Karnataka, which utilises Cauvery water for summer irrigation. There is hardly any chance of the government releasing water for raising nurseries.

Unless there is an unusually heavy downpour before the next monsoon, the future of farmers is bleak. At least, Karnataka should be prevented from tapping water in summer,” he added.