R. ARIVANANTHAM
SALEM, JUNE 12
For the first time after 9 years, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami released water from Stanley Reservoir in Mettur for Kuruvai (short-term crop) paddy cultivation on Friday, the customary date of June 12.
The water from the dam was previously released in 2011 by the late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. Initially 3,000 cusecs of water was released from the dam. The quantum of water being released would be gradually increased to 10,000 cusecs, the Chief Minister said after releasing the sluice gates of Mettur dam.
Further decision on releasing additional quantum of water would be taken based on the requirements of farmers in the Delta region comprising of Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, and parts of Pudukkottai districts, he added.
The decision to release water was taken following a bountiful rainfall which raised the water level in the reservoir to over 100 feet. According to an official release, the water would be released for 90 days.
Of the total ayacut area of 5.22 lakh acres in cauvery delta, 3.5 lakh acres will be irrigated for kuruvai crops.
The Chief Minister sprinkled flowers on the gushing water from the dam after the release.
மேட்டூர் அணையிலிருந்து தண்ணீர் திறப்பு! pic.twitter.com/WJr67eIzTf
— CMOTamilNadu (@CMOTamilnadu) June 12, 2020
Speaking to reporters, 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.
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.
Earlier on May 18, the Chief Minister 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.
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.”
