It was intriguing to read the letter “ >Water gone waste ” (Aug.16) that talked about the Cauvery river’s water being wasted. The letter writer is probably ignorant of the wide canal and tributary network of the Cauvery delta. The water is released into various canals in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts.
To form an opinion based on seeing the river at Swamimalai is not based on facts. The best barometer for water management is to visit Poompuhar and see the mouth of the river, where the water flows into the sea. My understanding is that the water released has been just sufficient for the tail-end areas of the river. In fact, water release now is about 20,000-odd cusecs, which is the minimum requirement for samba cultivation. Unless there is a flood, water is released in a manner that it meets the requirements. During the recent spurt in inflow, a lot of excess water was released into the Coleroon, which in turn flows into the Veeranam lake, a source of drinking water for Chennai city. So there is no wastage of water as such.
M. Meenakshisundaram,
Tiruchi
