Mettur dam water to be released on June 12, Duraimurugan tells T.N. Assembly

Minister Duraimurugan announces Mettur dam water release on June 12 for Cauvery delta irrigation, detailing desilting efforts.

Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan announced in the Assembly on Friday (April 25, 2025) that water from the Mettur dam in Salem district will be released on the customary date of June 12 this year for irrigation in the Cauvery delta districts.

The announcement came in response to a calling attention motion moved by Nannilam MLA R. Kamaraj, who urged the Water Resources Department to expedite ongoing desilting works across the Cauvery delta. He emphasised the need to ensure that water reaches the tail-end areas once released from the dam.

Mr. Kamaraj also urged the State government to undertake maintenance and repairs of shutters and sluices along the Cauvery and its distributaries, and to remove water hyacinth to allow for an unimpeded flow of water.

In response, Mr. Duraimurugan said the Water Resources Department sanctioned ₹98 crore on March 3 for a special desilting scheme, targeting 882 desilting works spanning 5,021.74 km across 12 districts, this year. The Minister said that the initial phase of these works has already commenced and that monitoring officers have been appointed for each district to oversee timely and effective implementation. All desilting works are planned to be completed by May-end, before the release of water from Mettur dam, he said.

Since the DMK came to power in 2021, the State government has allocated a total of ₹414 crore, including this year, under the special desilting scheme to desilt water channels, he added.