Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday wrote to Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat requesting to take steps to advise the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to ensure the realisation of water as per monthly schedule prescribed by the Supreme Court. As per the judgment, Tamil Nadu was to receive 9.19 tmc of water in June and 31.24 tmc in July.
Since the Cauvery delta region did not benefit much from the southwest monsoon, the kuruvai crop was dependent on the continuous release of water from the reservoir, he said. “Any shortfall in release of water as per the schedule will severely impact the standing crop as well as commencing and continuing the samba cultivation, from next month,” Mr. Stalin contended in his letter. A copy of the letter was released to the media.
Mr. Stalin, who visited the Cauvery delta region on Friday, said the region was the “rice bowl” of Tamil Nadu and the Stanley reservoir at Mettur is the lifeline of the delta. “We depend on them to a great extent for our agricultural production. This year, our delta farmers are eagerly waiting to commence the cultivation of Kuruvai and Samba crops.”
The government was planning to open the reservoir for the delta irrigation on the usual date on June 12, considering the current levels of storage at the reservoir and the IMD’s forecast of a normal southwest monsoon. “This is being done under the justified assumption that the water release in the Cauvery would be as per the monthly schedule fixed by the Supreme Court.”
The quantum of water received at the common border Billigundulu gauging the site of Central Water Commission had to be realised as per the monthly schedule fixed by the Supreme Court for ensuring the continuous release of water to sustain the lakhs of acres of kuruvai paddy crop. “Considering that this issue impacts the lives of lakhs of our farmers, I look forward to your immediate intervention,” he added.
