MK Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to request his assistance with the Cauvery issue. Stalin pleaded with PM Modi to tell Karnataka to release Cauvery water in order to safeguard the kuruvai paddy crop grown by farmers in Tamil Nadu’s Cauvery delta.
In his letter, CM Stalin complained that Karnataka was disregarding the Supreme Court’s judgement, which established the monthly schedule for the delivery of Tamil Nadu’s share of water to Billigundulu, and the demands of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).
He elaborated on this by pointing out that Karnataka has only released 11.6 trillion cubic feet (TMC) of water in the 2023–2024 water year, compared to the 40.4 TMC that was expected to be released at Billigundulu between June 1 and July 31.
‘Such a huge shortfall of 28.8 TMC has been thrust on Tamil Nadu, even while Karnataka has a gross storage of 91 TMC in its four major reservoirs, against their full storage capacity of 114.6 TMC,’ Stalin claimed.
As of August 2, only 26.6 TMC were present in the storage position at the Mettur reservoir, which is thought to be the Cauvery delta region’s lifeblood.
In order to highlight the dire circumstances facing local farmers, CM Stalin stated, ‘After providing for drinking water and other essential needs, the available water can support the standing Kuruvai crop for only 15 more days, whereas it needs water for another 45 days for maturity and optimal yield.’
Stalin informed the Prime Minister that Karnataka had not’relented’ despite Tamil Nadu raising the issue with the Union Jal Shakti Minister, and that aside from the runoff from the fully filled Kabini reservoir, no water had been released from its major reservoirs, which he claimed were 80% full and continued to receive good inflows.
‘The Cauvery delta is the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu and it meets the paddy requirement of the state to a very large extent. In the current scenario wherein the Union Government has already banned the export of non-basmati rice due to emerging concerns of rice shortage, it is all the more important that the current Kuruvai paddy crop in the Cauvery delta and the livelihood of our farmers are saved by your urgent intervention,’ he added.
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