METTUR: Around 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water gushed out of the Stanley Reservoir here on Monday as the Tamil Nadu Government released water for ‘Samba’ paddy cultivation in delta districts the state.
At a simple ceremony, Electricity Minister P Thangamani and Environment Minister KC Karupannan opened the sluice gates of the reservoir at 9.30 am. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had ordered release of water from the dam from October 2 for irrigation purposes in the Cauvery delta.
After the ceremony, Thangamani said 15,000 cusecs of water will be released from the reservoir everyday and the quantum of water to be released would be further increased in the coming days based on the requirement in the delta regions.
The Tamil Nadu Government decided to release water from the reservoir, which was getting steady inflow of water following heavy rains in the catchment areas of Cauvery river in Karnataka for the past couple of weeks.
Water released from the dam here would reach Cauvery delta region in the next couple of days. Cauvery water is the lifeline of farmers in the delta region as they are solely dependent on the water released from the reservoir for irrigation purposes.
Officials said crops in 16.04 lakh acres of land across the delta region would benefit from the release of water from the dam. The release of water from the dam, usually opened on June 12 annually for irrigation, had been delayed for the fourth straight year in view of poor storage due to scanty rainfall and refusal by Karnataka to release Tamil Nadu's share of Cauvery waters.
The dam was opened since its water level had crossed 90 feet of its storage capacity of 120 feet.
