Chennai, July 21 (IANS) With Tamil Nadu facing a widening shortfall in the receipt of Cauvery water during the current water year, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) is scheduled to meet in New Delhi on Wednesday (July 22), amid growing concerns over the impact of delayed releases on irrigation in the state’s delta districts.
The meeting assumes significance as Tamil Nadu has reported a substantial deficit in water realised at Biligundulu, the inter-State measuring point on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border.
As of July 19, the state had received only around 3.44 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) of water since June 1, leaving it with a deficit of nearly 21 tmc ft compared to the quantity due for the corresponding period under the Cauvery water-sharing arrangement.
The development comes a week after the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), during its meeting, heard submissions from both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka but deferred a decision.
The committee decided to review the evolving situation at its next meeting scheduled for July 28. Water resources experts in Chennai have pointed to the disparity between inflows into Karnataka’s reservoirs and the quantity released downstream. They noted that while the four major reservoirs in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka had together received around 30 tmc ft of inflows since the beginning of the current water year, Tamil Nadu had received less than four tmc ft during the same period.
Data released by the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre showed that, as of Monday, the cumulative inflow into the four reservoirs stood at 31.61 tmc ft, while the combined outflow was only 5.26 tmc ft.
The reservoirs together held about 59 tmc ft of water against total storage capacity of 114.57 tmc ft.
The situation has also raised concerns over storage levels at the Mettur dam, the principal irrigation source for the Cauvery delta.
On Tuesday morning, the reservoir’s water level stood at 75.14 feet against its full reservoir level of 120 feet, with a storage of around 37.3 tmc ft compared to its total capacity of 93.47 tmc ft.
Amid the growing concern, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami criticised Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, alleging that the state government had failed to secure Tamil Nadu’s rightful share of Cauvery water.
He claimed that the Chief Minister had not effectively engaged with Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to press for the release of water and accused the Karnataka government of failing to honour the Supreme Court’s directions on the dispute.
Palaniswami said farmers in the Cauvery delta were becoming increasingly anxious as irrigation water had not yet been released, affecting cultivation activities and leaving large numbers of agricultural labourers without work.
He urged the TVK-led government to intensify its efforts and exert greater pressure on Karnataka to ensure the immediate release of Tamil Nadu’s due share of Cauvery water.
–IANS
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