Chennai, May 31: The traditional opening of the Mettur Dam on June 12 for irrigation in Tamil Nadu‘s Cauvery Delta is becoming increasingly uncertain. This is due to insufficient water storage and an unfavorable forecast for the southwest monsoon.
Senior government officials have indicated that the current water level in the Mettur reservoir is inadequate for the customary release scheduled for June 12.
Concerns about water availability have escalated following the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) prediction of a delayed southwest monsoon and its revision of rainfall forecasts to 90% of the long-term average.
As of Saturday, the Mettur Dam held 410 million cubic feet (TMCFT) of water, while its full storage capacity is 934.7 million cubic feet. The reservoir is currently receiving a flow of approximately 1,950 cubic feet per second, with about 1,000 cubic feet per second being released to lower areas.
The situation in Karnataka’s upper regions is also disappointing. According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, the combined storage in the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) and Kabini reservoirs is only 16.09 million cubic feet, compared to their total capacity of 68.97 million cubic feet.
In the Harangi and Hemavathi reservoirs, the combined capacity is 45.6 TMCFT, but only 17.75 TMCFT of water is currently stored.
Despite these concerns, Tamil Nadu has received approximately 330 TMCFT of water from the Cauvery River at Billigundulu during the 2025-26 water year, significantly exceeding its annual share of 176.85 TMCFT.
During the previous DMK government (2021-26), the Mettur Dam was opened on the scheduled date in three out of five years, and it was opened early in 2022. However, in 2023, water release for irrigation began only on July 29, when storage reached about 880 TMCFT.
Officials estimate that with the current storage, water availability will only suffice for approximately 250,000 acres of Kuruvai cultivation, aided by nearly 100,000 borewells and filter points.
In recent years, the typical area for Kuruvai has been about 440,000 acres, while last year saw a record high of 609,000 acres.
Experts estimate that at least 800 TMCFT of water will be required to irrigate 300,000 acres of land. Reports indicate that the state government is considering a special assistance package for farmers and is also exploring measures to promote pulse cultivation as an alternative crop.
Agricultural specialists have advised farmers to complete sowing of black gram by the second week of June to mitigate potential losses from heavy rains during the final phase of the southwest monsoon or the subsequent northeast monsoon.
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