A vast section of the farming community in the delta region of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts is still sceptical about the samba paddy prospects in the face of delayed water release from Mettur dam and the Karnataka’s obdurate stand on water release.
Despite the increased inflow into Mettur reservoir over the weekend, delta farmers think that the Chief Minister should have forced Karnataka to release water a little earlier. “The logic behind the samba package stumps us,” says K. Balakrishnan, president of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam affiliated to the CPI (M).
“Is the Chief Minister conceding there will be no water for samba? What is the purpose of moving the court? The State government must be more open minded in this important issue and take all sections on board,” the former MLA demanded.
“Though we welcome the samba package, we want to stress that without water no package or support measures are going to help the delta farmers,” says general secretary of the Tamizhaga Cauvery Farmers' Association P.R. Pandian. Prime Minister Narendra Modi must despatch a delegation to Karnataka and ensure that water is released on a pro rata basis based on the availability in that State’s reservoirs, he demanded.
“The samba package is an attempt to sidestep the core issue of water release from Karnataka. The State government should take urgent and faithful steps to address the water requirement of the farmers for the samba crop,” says State general secretary of the CPI-affiliated Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam Durai Manikkam. The farmers’ wings of the Left parties are likely to convene a meeting of like-minded forums in the coming days demanding the Chief Minister to convene an all party meet to evolve a united strategy or face the possibility of the Opposition parties approaching Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a definitive word on the looming crisis.
Meanwhile, delta farmers are still awaiting some positive news on water availability to take up samba paddy cultivation in right earnest. “It will be suicidal for farmers who depend solely on river water for irrigation to venture into samba paddy cultivation even through direct sowing method at this point of time. Let some precipitation occur and bring rains and only then we could think of samba crop. Till then we can only wait,” says S. Durairaj, a farmer in Erukkattur in Tiruvarur district.
