Bengaluru: Prof Rangarajan, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Delta Farmers' Welfare Association claimed that the ruling of Supreme Court could have been different had Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah insisted on an aerial survey of the Cauvery delta before his state appeared before the apex court.
He told Deccan Chronicle that there has been delay on the part of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in implementing final orders of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal for one or other reason. Both states have witnessed agitations on the issue especially during distress periods.
Karnataka which claimed poor storage of water in four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin owing to failure of rains, should have appealed to the Supreme Court to order an aerial survey to understand the realities.
"According to me, it is a political mistake committed by Mr Siddaramaiah in this current situation. He (Siddaramaiah) gave contradicting statements on actual storage of water in four reservoirs in Karnataka".
Prof Rangarajan said the current storage at Mettur Dam in TN which was around 47 tmc ft (maximum storage 93.7 tmc ft) was sufficient to meet the demand of TN farmers to save the Samba crop on two lakh acres in the command area of the dam. Originally, the command area was 24 lakh acres but around 2.5 lakh acres was not getting water, so it has been converted into plantations.
He said around 1.5 tmc ft of water was being released daily from the Mettur Dam to save the Samba crop and the current storage may last for 20-25 days. TN was fully banking on North East rains which was advancing towards the state.
