Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday wrote to Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh to take steps and advise the Cauvery Water Management Authority to release water as per the Supreme Court’s judgment. According to the judgment, Tamil Nadu should receive 9.19 TMC water in June and 31.24 TMC in July. Stalin also pointed out that Tamil Nadu has decided to open the Mettur dam from June 12 assuming that Cauvery water will be released as per the schedule.
After his visit to the Cauvery delta region on Friday, Stalin wrote in the letter: “The Cauvery Delta is the rice bowl of our State 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 also, our delta farmers are eagerly waiting to commence the cultivation of Kuruvai and Samba crops.”
“Considering the current levels of storage at the reservoir and the IMD's forecast of a normal South West Monsoon, we are planning to open the reservoir for delta irrigation on the normal date, June 12. This is being done under the justified assumption that the water release in Cauvery would be as per the monthly schedule fixed by the Supreme Court,” he said.
Stalin said the Kuruvai crops are dependent on the continuous release of water from the reservoir since they do not receive much from the southwest monsoon. “Hence 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,” he said.
Stalin requested the Union Minister to take necessary steps to advise the Cauvery Water Management Authority to ensure the realisation of water as per the monthly schedule prescribed by the Supreme Court.