Tamil Nadu erupts in joy: Farmers say Supreme Court directive momentous

THANJAVUR/CHENNAI: The Cauvery Delta region, which is solely dependent on river water for cultivation of crops, erupted in joy on Tuesday after the Supreme Court directed the Union Government to set up the Cauvery Management Board within four weeks.

The farmers were also happy about the release of 6,000 cusecs of water from Cauvery for the next seven days beginning tomorrow. The mood among farmers in the entire Delta region comprising Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and parts of Tiruchy and Pudukkottai districts was that of confidence and a sense of victory. Political parties including the ruling AIADMK and principal Opposition DMK hailed the Supreme Court ruling on setting up of the CMB, calling it as “victory for the state of Tamil Nadu.”

“Justice has finally been delivered. The Union Government should have formed the Board immediately after it notified the CWDT award in the gazette in 2013.

But now, after the CMB is established, farmers can approach the Board for getting water during distress years,” Mannargudi S Ranganathan, Secretary, Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association, told Deccan Chronicle.