Amidst hope and expectations after the prolonged drought-like conditions, water was released from the Grand Anicut on Thursday for samba paddy cultivation in the Cauvery delta districts.
The shutters were opened with the available water, released earlier for the Cauvery Maha Pushkaram festival, before the fresh flow from Mettur Dam reached here on Thursday morning. The water released from Mettur Dam on October 2 meandered its way towards Grand Anicut later in the day.
State Ministers R. Doraikkannu, R. Kamaraj and O.S. Manian, R. Vaithilingam, Rajya Sabha MP, S. Rajendran, Chief Government Whip, and Collectors from the delta districts, and Public Works Department officials offered flowers and showered paddy seeds on the river Cauvery, praying for a bountiful harvest this samba season.
As the shutters were lifted by Ministers and the Collectors, water gushed out of the sluices of the Cauvery, Vennar and Grand Anicut Canal systems.
About 4,750 cusecs were released in Cauvery and an equal quantum in Vennar; 1,300 cusecs in Grand Anicut Canal and 1,200 cusecs in Coleroon, PWD officials said.
The water was expected to reach the tail-end areas in about a week’s time. Changes in water management would be made depending on the monsoon with a view to ensure water availability through the season, officials said.
Nearly four lakh hectares in the three districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam are expected to be covered under samba and thalady paddy crop. According to Agriculture Department officials, samba and thalady paddy crop is expected to be raised on about 1.32 lakh hectares in Thanjavur district, 1.47 lakh hectares in Tiruvarur and about 1.31 lakh hectares in Nagapattinam district.
