Tamil Nadu - Erode   

Delay in water release brings down area under paddy cultivation

PHOTO: M. GOVARTHAN

Hard times: Delay in release of water into Kalingarayan Canal has brought down paddy cultivation. —

ERODE: Paddy cultivation in areas under Kalingarayan Canal is down by at least 5,000 hectares. At least that is what sources in the Agriculture Department are telling ‘The Hindu’.

The sources attribute the reason to the delay in releasing water into Kalingarayan Canal. “The delay worried farmers, who hesitated to start paddy cultivation.”

In June this year, before the start of the Kuruvai season, the Public Works Department was unsure of releasing water into the irrigation channel because of the poor storage position in the Bhavani Sagar Dam.

Following pressure from farmers, who sought water to save standing crops, the department agreed to release water for about 20 days as special wetting. It released the water on June 25.

At the time of the water release, farmers, under the impression that the water would flow for only 20 days, did not prepare land for paddy cultivation. They focused only on saving sugarcane.

But then, within 10 days of the department opening the shutters, monsoon activity picked up in the Nilgris, which lead to a good inflow into the Bhavani Sagar Dam.

The storage position increased to such an extent that the department continued to release water. The farmers, caught unawares, were left with no choice but to wait for the samba season.

This delay in releasing water into the canal, poor storage in the dam and other factors contributed to farmers not starting sowing, says V.M. Velayudham, president, Kalingarayan Canal Farmers Association. He says had the farmers known that the dams storage position would improve and department would release water, they would have gone ahead and tilled and prepared the land to raise paddy nursery.

The farmers are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping that the samba season will be good with rains in time to get a good harvest.

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