Chennai: With no apparent signs of the customary opening of the Mettur dam on June 12, owing to meager storage levels, prospects of raising Kuruvai crop may recede.
Farmers in the delta region are keeping their fingers crossed in the hope that the southwest monsoon would fetch bountiful rains and help realise the dream of raising a successful crop this year. Normally Kuruvai paddy is raised in about 4.50 lakh acres in the three delta districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam in the state. Farmers who have sunk borewells have been able to raise the Kuruvai crop in an estimated 1.50 lakh acres in the past.
The reservoir was opened to facilitate irrigation ahead of the customary date on June 6 only in 2011. The prospects of releasing the water is likely to be delayed further due to the insufficient storage level. As against 95 feet water level, which is required for opening the dam, the Mettur reservoir has only 24 feet water at present with an inflow of 974 cusecs. Over the last five years, Kuruvai crop has been lost due to scarcity of water.
Nearly 90 per cent of the farmers are badly hit by drought in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts and the yield has come down significantly.
Meanwhile, the five-day farmers protest which concluded on Monday, saw the participants raising slogans urging the Centre to form the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).
Meanwhile, TMC president G. K. Vasan urged the central and state governments to take steps on war-footing to provide relief to farmers suffering due to the failure of the monsoon. “The state government should take steps to release water from Mettur dam on June 12 and help save the crop,” he said.
