After one and a half months behind normal schedule, water was released from Mullaperiyar dam for irrigation of the first crop in the double-cropping areas of Cumbum valley on Thursday.
Releasing water from the dam here, Collector N. Venkatachalam said 300 cusecs of water – 200 cusecs for irrigation and 100 cusecs for meeting drinking water needs of Madurai and Theni districts – would be released from the dam for the next 120 days continuously.
A total of 14,707 acres – 11,807 acres in Uthamapalayam, 2,412 acres in Theni and 488 acres in Bodi blocks – would benefit from the water release. The Collector appealed to the farmers to use water judiciously and raise short-term crops for better yield and profit.
Public Works Department engineers said turn system would be introduced if the storage level failed to improve or in case of monsoon failure.
The PWD officials and farmers, however, hoped that the southwest monsoon would improve the storage level in the coming months to maintain the discharge for the first crop till harvest.
Normally water would be released from the dam on June 1. With poor storage in the dam and lack of rain in catchment areas, the PWD delayed water release this year. MLAs Thanga Tamilselvan, S.T.K. Jakkaiyan and A. Kathirkamu, District Revenue Officer S. Ponnammal, PWD Executive Engineer A. Madhavan, representatives of local bodies, officials of the PWD and revenue department, and leaders of farmers associations were present.
