R. ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, MAY 18
For the first time after 11 years, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Monday announced the release of water from Mettur reservoir for Kuruvai (short-term crop) paddy cultivation on June 12.
தமிழ்நாட்டின் நெற்களஞ்சியமாகத் திகழும் காவேரி டெல்டா பகுதி விவசாயப் பெருங்குடி மக்களின் நலனை கருத்தில் கொண்டு, மேட்டூர் அணையிலிருந்து குறுவை நெல் சாகுபடிக்காக வருகின்ற ஜூன் 12 ஆம் தேதி காலை 10 மணிக்கு காவேரி டெல்டா பாசனத்திற்கு நீர் விடுவிக்க உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளேன். pic.twitter.com/l2Dn4JTo66
— CMOTamilNadu (@CMOTamilnadu) May 18, 2020
Following the representations from the farmers from the Delta region and comfortable water level of 101.01-feet and storage of 64.85 TMC feet, the Chief Minister held a consultation meeting with the officials on Monday.
After the meeting, the Chief Minister ordered the water release from June 12, the customary date every year for irrigation purposes.
A release from the DIPR said that the Chief Minister appealed the farmers to ensure individual social distance and use masks to cover their nose and mouth while engaging in agriculture activities because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The present storage in the reservoir, popularly known as Mettur Dam since it is located in the town in Salem district in western Tamil Nadu, would be sufficient for the release of water for 50 days, an official release said.
The scenario, brought about by bountiful rains last year, will bring cheers to lakhs of farmers, who had to forego the short-term crop several years in the past, owing to the non-availability of water.
Barring 2011, when water was released on June 6, six days ahead of the scheduled date, the dam, built across the Cauvery river, has not been opened on the customary date of June 12 for the past 11 years. In 2011, when late J Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister, water was released from the dam on June 6, ahead of the customary date, officials said.
In subsequent years, water could not be released on June 12 because of insufficient storage, officials said.
In the past two decades, the Mettur Dam was opened on the dot on June 12 in 2000, 2001, 2006, and 2008, respectively.
The Chief Minister also ordered the officials to ensure uninterrupted, 12-hour, three-phase power supply for agriculture and continuation of disbursal of interest-free crop loan through Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies (PACCs) to the farmers, the release added.
Last year, delta districts, including Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, Tiruvarur, and Nagapattinam, considered the rice bowl of the state, saw a yield of 4.99 lakh tons of paddy from cultivation in 2.90 lakh acres. “This year, 5.60 lakh tons of paddy yield is expected after cultivation in 3.25 lakh plus acres,” Palaniswami said and outlined several other measures to help farmers get a better yield.
The Chief Minister, who himself a farmer, had announced on the floor of the assembly that the Cauvery Delta as Protected Special Agriculture Zone (PSAZ) during February last year.
Also Read: http://navjeevanexpress.com/good-news-on-cauvery-delta-as-psaz-soon-edappadi-k-palaniswami/
Following his announcement, the Tamil Nadu Assembly adopted a bill on February 20 last year that will prohibit projects involving exploration, drilling, and extraction of oil and natural gas, including coal-bed methane, and other similar hydrocarbons and ship-breaking industry in the Cauvery delta region of the state.
The prohibition clause of the Bill said: ‘No person shall undertake any new project or new activity specified in the Second Schedule in the protected agricultural zone.”
Chief Minister K Palaniswami who piloted the Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Development Bill 2020 and called it “historic.”
Thamizhaga Cauvery Farmers Association Welcomes CM’s Announcement
Meanwhile, the Thamizhaga Cauvery Farmers Association welcomes the announcement of the Chief Minister on water release from Mettur on June 12. In a release issued in Tiruvarur, its General Secretary P.R. Pandian said that the government should appoint a group of IAS officers to ensure that water be reached the tail end farmers within 7 days from the release.
He also urged the government to ensure uninterrupted power supply, credit flow through PACs to undertake Kuruvai paddy cultivation.
