The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Flow into Mettur dam yet to increase

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Thursday, Jun 28, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Flow into Mettur dam yet to increase

Special Correspondent

42,500 hectares brought under kuruvai in delta districts

CHENNAI: Despite good rain in Karnataka and Kerala, the possibility of Tamil Nadu getting copious inflow into the Mettur reservoir is grim.

Torrential rain in Dakshina Karnataka and Wynad in Kerala improved the inflows in the Krishnaraja Sagar and the Kabini reservoirs. But, the storage in the reservoirs was much below their capacities. The combined storage in Karnataka reservoirs was just 32 tmcft as against the total capacity of 114 tmcft.

The storage in the KRS was 18 tmcft as against the capacity of 49 tmcft.

The storage in the Kabini was slightly better at 11 tmcft compared to the full storage of 18 tmcft.

If the rains continue in Kerala, there is a possibility of the Kabini Reservoir reaching its full capacity. Till then the Mettur reservoir may not get good inflow.

The current storage in the reservoir was 37 tmcft as against the capacity of 93.4 tmcft. As kuruvai crop requires a minimum 105 tmcft for completing the cultivation, it is not advisable to open the dam till the storage crosses 55 tmcft.

About 42,500 hectares have been brought under kuruvai cultivation in the Cauvery delta districts in the current season as against the normal coverage of 2.074 lakh hectares. Farmers having filter point wells raised the crop.

Agriculture Department officials had appealed to ryots to go for less water intensive pulses, oilseeds and millets to compensate for the loss of kurivai.

Already a majority of the farmers in the delta districts have decided to skip the kuruvai and go for the long-term samba crop.

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