Mettur Dam to be opened for 'kuruvai' cultivation on June 12

Due to the move, 5.21 lakh acre land will be irrigated in many areas

For the second consecutive year, the sluices of the 87-year-old Stanley Reservoir in Mettur will be opened on June 12 for the cultivation of kuruvai (short-term crop) in eight districts in the fertile Cauvery Delta region.

Chief Minister M K Stalin announced that water from the dam in Mettur, Salem district will be opened on June 12 to enable irrigation in 5.21 lakh acre land. The announcement preceded a series of consultations with the farmers’ association and officials from various departments over the past two weeks.

The date was set keeping in mind the arrival of the southwest monsoon in Karnataka. However, the dam was not opened several times due to a slew of factors, including a delay on the part of Karnataka in releasing water to the state.

Stalin said the government has carried out 647 desilting work for Rs 65.11 crore in the past few weeks to ensure that the water released from the Mettur dam reaches tail-end areas in the Delta region. The state government had last month appointed senior bureaucrats as special officers to oversee the desilting work in the region.

“Since the water level at the dam standing at 97.13 feet and the water storage at 61.43 tmcft as on June 3 and due to forecast of rains this monsoon, the Chief Minister has announced the opening of the dam on June 12,” a statement from the government said.

Due to the move, 5.21 lakh acre land will be irrigated in Tiruchirapalli, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Pudukkottai, and Cuddalore districts, the statement added. The release of the water on June 12 will ensure that farmers take up kuruvai (short-term crop) for the second year in a row.

The Cauvery Delta, which was used to a three-crop formula – samba, kuruvai and thaladi – had come down to just one crop a year. Till about a decade ago, cultivation would take place in three seasons – Kuruvai (short-term crop) from June to September, Samba (long-term crop) from August to January and Thaladi from January to May – keeping the farmer busy for the whole year.

While the first two seasons primarily cultivated paddy, farmers utilised the third season to cultivate pulses for centuries together with the progressive farming community.