Stop power to K’taka, ensure uninterrupted three-phase supply in region, demand ryots

TIRUCHY: In order to compensate for the water shortage, the Delta farmers have urged the State government to provide 16 hours uninterrupted three phase power supply to facilitate irrigation through bore wells at least till October end which would help them realise kuruvai harvest.

“There are more than four lakh three phase power supply across the Delta region and more than 40 per cent of the farmers still depend on bore wells in the region. Uninterrupted power supply would help the farmers who possess bore wells as well as those who face scarcity of water who might borrow water for irrigating the river fed lands during the water shortage,” said Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association.

Vimalnathan argued that Karnataka refuses to release water to Tamil Nadu despite the court direction and in the same vein, the Tamil Nadu government should take a bold decision not to distribute power supply generated through the power plants in Tamil Nadu.

“When we initiate an action of reciprocation like this, the Karnataka government could listen to Tamil Nadu,” he said. He sought the State government to declare the Cauvery Delta as drought hit region so that the farmers could get the benefits.

“We learn that the Karnataka government has already announced their six taluks as drought hit regions and the enumeration of damage in those taluks have commenced. At this juncture, we have been demanding the state government declare the region as a drought affected area. Why the Chief Minister MK Stalin is hesitant to announce. If announced the farmers would certainly reap the benefits and get the due compensation to their damaged crops,” Vimalnathan said.

He charged that the government has been giving a step motherly treatment to the farmers. “The Chief Minister who has been proclaiming himself as a Delta man should understand the problems of the Delta farmers,” he stressed.

With no hope of water flowing, cultivating Samba will be suicidal, say Delta farmers

Due to declining storage of water, the Delta farmers have decided to quit both (early Samba and Samba) cultivation. They have decided to wait for the government assurance on adequate water for cultivation, otherwise it would be a suicide.

“As government is not able to ensure water even for saving the standing kuruvai, we are dejected and decided to quit the early samba cultivation and wait for the monsoon rains. If the monsoon fails, we will certainly quit samba as we do not want to take risk,” said Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association.

The samba cultivation was supposed to commence in the last week of August for which the farmers must ready their fields for cultivation but there is no proper assurance and support from the government and so the farmers who have been waiting to cultivate in an area of 13 lakh acres have been simply sitting fingers crossed.

The water storage has been declining and has reached as below as 10 TMC, it is not possible even for saving kuruvai and so they do not even think about samba as of now.

This would certainly result in poor food production this year. “This would equally affect the rice distribution through the PDS outlets and the Centre which is responsible for the rice distribution through the PDS outlets has to borrow from the other states,” Vimalnathan said.