Coimbatore, September 12 (Daily Kiran) : Water inflow at the Mettur Dam has sharply decreased, causing growing concern among farmers in the Cauvery Delta regarding irrigation for samba rice cultivation. Currently, the reservoir is still releasing 12,400 cubic feet per second (cusecs) for irrigation, despite the significant drop in water flow.
On Friday, the flow dwindled to just 1,174 cusecs, a stark contrast to the 8,993 cusecs recorded on September 7. This figure fell to 3,718 cusecs on September 9 and further down to 2,250 cusecs by September 10. The rapid decline in water flow has led to a steep drop in the reservoir’s water level.
The maximum water level for the dam is set at 120 feet. However, the level has dropped from 91.28 feet on September 9 to 90.52 feet by Thursday, and it further decreased to 89.67 feet on Friday. This decline follows a directive from the Cauvery Water Management Authority, which instructed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.
A Mettur Dam official noted that Karnataka has increased the amount of water being released from its reservoirs, with expectations that this new flow will reach Tamil Nadu by Saturday. The exact quantity of water will only be determined once it enters the state.
While this additional water may provide temporary relief to the Mettur reservoir, farmers are worried that a prolonged reduction in inflow could adversely affect samba rice cultivation, which heavily relies on timely and sufficient irrigation from the Cauvery system.
To protect standing crops in the delta districts, it is crucial to continue releasing water from Mettur. However, the rapidly decreasing water level raises concerns about whether this can be sustained if Karnataka does not maintain the specified flow.
C. Nallasamy, secretary of the Tamil Nadu Federation of Farmers Associations, expressed that it has already been challenging for delta farmers to save their drying crops, especially since Karnataka has completed harvesting its first crop. He warned that the water released over the past 45 days has been insufficient to meet the irrigation needs for samba cultivation. If water flow does not increase significantly in the coming days, the availability of water could further diminish, putting immense pressure on farmers and threatening their crops.
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