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Ministers K. N. Nehru, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, T. R. B. Rajaa and Siva V. Meyyanathan pressing the button to mark the release of water from Kallanai on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: R. Vengadesh
The Union Government has not consented to the Mekedatu project, Minister for Municipal Administration K. N. Nehru has said.
“That might be his view,” he said when asked to comment on Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah’s statement that Tamil Nadu was letting out Cauvery water into the sea. “Still it is our (Tamil Nadu’s) right to get the share in Cauvery River water,” he observed speaking to reporters after raising the shutters of Kallanai along with Ministers Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, T. R. B. Rajaa and Siva V. Meyyanathan.
Chief Minister M. K. Stalin has firmly told the Union Government not to allow the construction of a dam across the Cauvery in Mekedatu and the Union Government had also said that it had not given its consent for any proposal to construct a dam across Cauvery river, Mr. Nehru said.
Meanwhile, the State government’s decision to ‘fill up waterbodies’ in the Cauvery Basin in Tamil Nadu with the water being released from the Stanley Reservoir is said to have disappointed the Delta farmers as they have pinned their hope on the Cauvery river supply to save their standing ‘kuruvai’ crop cultivated by tapping the groundwater, particularly in the Old Delta region.
They were elated when the storage level of the Mettur dam crossed the 100 feet mark and the Water Resources Department officials suggested that the entire increased inflow into the dam be released for the safety of the dam structure.
But, their happiness was short-lived as the Minister for Municipal Administration, K. N. Nehru after releasing the water for irrigation from the Grand Anicut on Wednesday affirmed that filling up of lakes and ponds would be given priority aimed to ensure the availability of sufficient water for irrigation to see through the ‘samba’ and ‘thaladi’ season.
The Minister said that, to begin with out of the water inflow realised at the “Kallanai” (Grand Anicut) 1500 cubic feet per second would be released into Cauvery river, 1000 cubic feet into Vennar, 500 cubic feet into the Grand Anicut Canal and 400 cubic feet into the Coleroon river from the Grand Anicut. The quantum of release would be revised based on the inflow into Mettur and other parameters from time to time, he added.
However, farmers association representatives, such as ‘Kakkarai’ Sugumaran of Thamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangangalin Kootiyakkam and V.Jeevakumar of Budalur, a progressive farmer, who were present at Kallanai to take part in the water releasing event, registered their dissent by demanding that sufficient quantity of water should be released into the Cauvery, Vennar and the Grand Anicut irrigation network.
They said that though they did not oppose letting out water into Kollidam river at Mukkombu, releasing 10,000 to 15,000 cusecs of water into Cauvery and Vennar and around 5,000 cusecs in the Grand Anicut Canal would help recharge the borewells that have gone dry in Delta region apart from the much-needed wetting of the parched river beds.
They added that releasing a meagre quantum of water into Cauvery, Vennar and Grand Anicut would not serve any purpose by pointing out the submission of the senior Minister at the press meet that irrigation needs of last year’s ‘samba and thaladi’ and this year’s ‘kuruvai’ could not be met due to the poor storage at Mettur.
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