Ryots demand water release from Mettur till May

Members of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association and the Uyyankondan Irrigation Farmers Association approached the executive engineer of PWD (water resources) here on Thursday and demanded to release water till the end of May for the summer crops.

The members, led by the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association district secretary Ayilai Siva Suriyan, after submitting a petition to the executive engineer to extend the release of water from Mettur dam said, there were 17 channel flowing across the Cauvery Delta region covering most portions of  Tiruchy district. The water released from Mettur dam recharges these 17 channels from Mayanur to Tiruchy Upper Anicut.

According to the farmers, one of the major water sources of Uyyankondan canal irrigates the tail-end regions of Tiruchy where summer crops like banana, black gram and paddy too have been cultivated. Only if water was available till the month of May, the could get a successful harvest. Otherwise, the crops which are in the initial stages will wither away resulting in a huge loss to farmers.

They also said that the storage in Mettur dam was still around 110 feet and it would be ideal to release water for drinking purposes and support the cattle along with catering to irrigation needs.