Chennai, September 1: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay opened the sluice gates of the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur on Tuesday. Due to insufficient rainfall and low water storage, water was released for irrigation in the Cauvery Delta after a delay of nearly three months.
The government plans to release water for 45 days starting September 1, based on the inflow and availability in the reservoir. This initiative aims to benefit the agricultural lands in the delta districts, where farmers have been waiting for water to commence their farming activities.
Typically, water is released from the Mettur Dam for the short-duration paddy crop ‘Kuruvai’ every year on June 12. However, this year, the process was postponed due to inadequate rainfall in the river’s catchment areas and insufficient storage in the reservoir.
This visit marks Vijay’s first trip to Mettur since assuming office on May 10. The release of water is especially significant as farmers face increasing uncertainty regarding irrigation and the availability of Cauvery water during the farming season.
This development comes amid an ongoing dispute over the sharing of Cauvery water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. On Monday, following Tamil Nadu’s request to address the shortfall in water released by Karnataka, the Supreme Court postponed the hearing of the case until September 15.
Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta instructed both states to keep a record of events leading up to the next hearing.
Senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan, representing Tamil Nadu, stated that despite the Cauvery Water Management Authority recording the issue, Karnataka has failed to address the shortfall. He emphasized that a significant portion of Tamil Nadu’s agricultural land relies on Cauvery water and urged the court to ensure the state receives its fair share. Karnataka, however, refuted this claim, asserting that it is releasing more water than required.
Advocate Shyam Diwan informed the court that Karnataka released 9,888 cusecs of water on August 30, against a need of 9,000 cusecs. He noted that the flow later exceeded 11,000 cusecs. The bench observed that Karnataka had increased the water release from 11,000 to 12,000 cusecs since August 12.
Tamil Nadu approached the authority to enforce its directives and warned that the ongoing water shortage could adversely affect agriculture in the delta region.
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