TN: Jayalalithaa announces Rs 40 crore sops for Delta farmers

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government today said water from the Mettur dam for 'kuruvai' crops in Cauvery Delta districts cannot be released on June 12 due to lower storage levels, but announced a slew of schemes at over Rs 40 crore for taking up the short-term crop based on groundwater.

The announcement came from Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who said she had reviewed the situation with her senior cabinet colleagues and officials, including Finance Minister O Panneerselvam and Chief Secretary K Gnanadesikan on June 2.

The storage at Mettur dam, the lifeline of Cauvery Delta districts, was at 72.64 feet and even if Karnataka releases Tamil Nadu's share of Cauvey water for June under a Tribunal's final award, the storage will still stand at 79 feet, she said in a statement here.

"Therefore, water cannot be released for kuruvai (short-term) crops on June 12," she said.

Water from the 120 feet capacity Mettur Dam is generally released on the June 12 of every year for 'kuruvai' crop plantation. Discharge was possible only when the storage was at least 90 feet, she added.

Jayalalithaa however said that with excess summer rainfall, groundwater level has "increased significantly," following which she announced a series of sops to the farmers in this background to take up 'kuruvai' plantation.

This includes supply of 12 hours of three-phase power, increased mechanisation of plantation and promoting the use of organic fertilizers, she said, adding government departments and cooperative unions would be roped in for this purpose.

Farmers need not pay for any of the efforts, she said adding that the said measure, totalling Rs 40.97 crore, would help enhance the acreage of 'kuruvai' plantation and upgradation of quality of soil, she said.