Mettur dam to receive fresh inflow; farmers still worried about crops

With rains pounding the catchment areas of River Cauvery for the past few days, the water level at the 89-year-old Stanley Reservoir in Tamil Nadu is set to increase in the coming days, in some good news for farmers in the fertile Cauvery Delta region who are struggling to save their kuruvai (short-term) crop.

The inflow at Biligundlu, the entry point of Cauvery water in Tamil Nadu from Karnataka, stood at 12,000 cusecs at 3 pm on Wednesday as excess water from dams continued to be released. With the inflow increasing, the Tamil Nadu government temporarily suspended coracle operations in the scenic Hogenakkal falls in Dharmapuri district.

Sources said the inflow is likely to touch about 18,000 cusecs by Thursday morning. “This means the water level at Mettur dam will increase rapidly. The water level at the reservoir has been fast depleting as the Tamil Nadu government releases 10,000 cusecs of water for irrigation in the Delta region. If we get more water, we will increase the water discharge from the dam,” a government official told DH.

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At 3 pm on Wednesday, the inflow into Mettur dam stood at a mere 177 cusecs – it takes two days for water to reach from Biligundlu to Mettur – and the water level at 65.80 feet and storage at 29.198 tmcft. The maximum water level at the dam is 120 feet.

Fresh inflow into Mettur dam has certainly brought joy to farmers but they say increase in the release of water at this stage won’t be of much use for kuruvai (short-term crop) but might help save samba. The farmers couldn’t get enough water this season with the government releasing just 10,000 cusecs of water due to non-release of water by Karnataka.

Last week, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said there was a “huge shortfall” in realising Cauvery water from Karnataka, which released a mere 3.78 tmcft between June 1 to July 17 against the prescribed quantum of 26.32 tmcft, leaving a huge shortfall of 22.54 tmcft.

P R Pandian, President of the Coordination Committee of All Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, told DH that paddy cultivated in about 2 lakh acres will be affected due to non-availability of adequate water. “Farmers cultivated kuruvai in about 5 lakh acres and I think we will only be able to save about 3 lakh acres. Increasing the outflow from Mettur is welcome but it won’t help us save the remaining 2 lakh acres,” he claimed. Pandian also blamed the Tamil Nadu government for not “planning” the release of water from Mettur dam.

Officials said Karnataka is supposed to release 31.24 tmcft of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu in July, 45.95 tmcft in August, and 36.76 tmcft in September. For the past few years, the issue of deficit wasn’t raised primarily because of release of surplus water from dams in Karnataka due to incessant rains.