TN Delta farmers urge govt to ensure water for agriculture in summers

CHENNAI: Farmers in the Delta districts of Tamil Nadu have urged the state government to ensure the release of water for agricultural activities during the summer months.

R.K. Mayilsami, leader of the Delta Farmers' Association, told IANS that farmers in the Delta region usually cultivate only two out of the three seasons each year due to water shortages.

Districts in which the river splits into many parts and joins the lake or sea is called the Delta district.

He said, "Farming activities drop heavily because there is no availability of water."

The farmer leader noted that the Regional Meteorological Centre has predicted heavy rains during the northeast monsoon season this year.

He urged the government to plan for the storage of this water for use during the summer season. This, he added, would help farmers grow short-term crops like black gram as an intermittent crop.

However, R. Sundardas, a farmer leader from Thanjavur, told IANS that the lack of links between irrigation tanks and reservoirs makes storing extra water difficult.

He called upon the Tamil Nadu government to create such links to ensure water storage and meet future needs effectively.

During the southwest monsoon, and following the onset of the northeast monsoon in the second week of October, the rains were abundant.

The Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department, in a statement, said that the heavy rains have resulted in 90 per cent of the state's reservoirs holding 143.804 thousand million cubic feet (Tmcft) of water, which is 64.11 per cent of their total capacity of 224.297 Tmcft as of Monday.

This is significantly higher compared to the same period last year, when the storage level was just 79.514 Tmcft (35.58 per cent).

The Water Resources Department also noted that storage in the Mettur reservoir reached 62,140 mcft on Monday, which is 384 per cent higher than the storage at the same time last year.

The Bhavani Sagar reservoir recorded storage of 21,141 mcft, also showing a 210 per cent increase from the previous year.

Additionally, the catchment areas of the Cauvery River received heavy rains, leading to Karnataka releasing 221.1125 Tmcft of water between June and October 17.

The Supreme Court had directed Karnataka to release 134.2284 Tmcft of water during this period, but due to heavy rains, the neighbouring state released 86.8842 Tmcft more than what was mandated.

Tamil Nadu's Water Resources Minister and senior DMK leader, S. Duraimurugan, told IANS that officials would continuously monitor the reservoirs and plan for the controlled release of water through surplus channels, which would help farmers in the Delta region benefit from the cultivation of intermittent crops as well.