The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Mettur storage sufficient for cultivation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 18, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Mettur storage sufficient for cultivation

By S. Vydhianathan

CHENNAI, JAN. 17. The State Government will see samba cultivation through in the delta districts successfully, thanks to the current storage of 30 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) in the Mettur reservoir.

As the release from the reservoir is about one tmcft a day, there will not be much difficulty in continuing the present supply for the next 15 days when the dam is closed for irrigation.

Normally, the reservoir is closed on January 28 every year. This year, the Government may extend the supply for a few more days to meet the irrigation needs of thaladi crop, which were sown late.

For the first time after three years the Government is able to supply water to the delta farmers to complete farming.

According to official sources, the inflow into the reservoir this morning was just 400 cusecs and the outflow 9,000 cusecs.

The shortfall in realisation so far is 37 tmcft. As per the interim order of the Cauvery Disputes Tribunal, the reservoir should have received 195 tmcft till date. But it received only 158 tmcft.

The possibility of the reservoir getting heavy inflows is unlikely till August when the southwest monsoon sets in, the sources said.

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