Shortfall in Cauvery water realisation a worry

Farmers keep their fingers crossed over prospects of raising paddy in Samba season

With the depleting availability of water at the Mettur dam and the rising shortfall in the realisation of the State’s share of Cauvery water, farmers and officials are keeping their fingers crossed over the prospects of paddy being raised during the Samba cultivation season.

“As the present storage — 35.96 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) — is hardly sufficient for our requirements in the coming weeks, the government should exert enough pressure on the Centre to get our due from Karnataka,” said V. Sathyanarayanan, a farmer from Tiruvarur district.

Conscious of the situation, officials of the Water Resources Department are going to New Delhi to attend the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA)’s meeting on Monday. “Our deficit is about 28 tmc ft. We are going to demand that Karnataka wipes it out immediately,” said the officials.