Farmers express concern over poor storage at Mettur Reservoir

Farmers in Tiruchi urge TN govt to get due share of Cauvery water for kuruvai & samba crops. Poor storage in Mettur Reservoir a cause for worry. Govt must take steps to get adequate water & avert withering of crops. Farmers in dilemma over samba cultivation due to low storage. Karnataka should release TN's rightful monthly quota. 2016-17 distress due to water shortage must be averted. Urea should be sold only through cooperative societies.

Farmers’ representatives of Tiruchi district on Friday urged the Sate government to intensify its efforts to get Tamil Nadu’s due share of water in the Cauvery river as per the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the Supreme Court order not only to meet the requirements of the standing kuruvai paddy crop but also for the forthcoming samba season.

Speaking on the issue at the monthly farmers grievances meeting, N.Veerasekaran, State Secretary of the Bharathiya Kisan Sangam, observed the depleting storage at the Mettur Reservoir as a cause for worry for farmers. The government should take steps to get adequate water in the Cauvery not only to avert the withering of crops but also to enable farmers to raise the samba crop.

Farmers were in a dilemma on whether to take up samba cultivation or not in view of the poor storage at the Mettur Reservoir, said Koundampatti R.Subramanian, deputy secretary, Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association.

In Tiruchi district alone, samba paddy would be raised on 1.75 lakh acres, he contended and urged the State to initiate firm measures to force Karnataka to release water in the Cauvery as per the schedule stipulated by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the Supreme Court.

Contending that the 10 tmc of water that Karnataka had agreed to give was totally inadequate, V. Chidambaram, district secretary, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said that the discharge of surplus waters from the dams in Karnataka cannot be taken into account and the upper riparian State should release Tamil Nadu’s rightful monthly quota of water.

Ayilai Sivasuriyan, district secretary, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, affiliated to the Communist Party of India, said a repeat of the situation in 2016-17, when farmers of the State faced severe distress due to shortage of water should be averted. In most parts of Tiruchi district, only a single crop (samba) is being raised and adequate water should be made available, he insisted.

P. Viswanathan, president, Tamizhaga Eri Mattrum Attru Pasana Vivasayigal Sangam, observed that the issue was being politicised by successive BJP and Congress governments by refusing to release water in the Cauvery as per the monthly schedule, much to the distress of Tamil Nadu farmers.