Delta farmers press for effective water management

They hail decision to release water from Mettur dam on June 12

Representatives of the Cauvery delta farmers have welcomed Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s decision to release water for irrigation from the Mettur dam on the scheduled date of June 12. But they have called for efficient water management to see them through the paddy cultivation seasons this year. The farmers, who are getting ready for the ‘kuruvai’ cultivation, have urged that desilting in the delta districts be completed before the water flows through the Grand Anicut into the Cauvery, the Vennar and the Grand Anicut Canal. G. Srinivasan, a farmer of Ganapathi Agraharam, says the groundwater has gone down considerably in some areas because of the hot weather conditions in the recent days. He has urged the government to release an adequate quantum so that the water will reach the tail-end areas within a week and the ‘kuruvai’ cultivation taken up with filter-points will not be affected for want of water.