The Hindu : Future uncertain, PM must ensure justice: ryots

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 28, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Future uncertain, PM must ensure justice: ryots

By T. Ramakrishnan

CHENNAI NOV. 27. With the Cauvery Monitoring Committee having failed to arrive at a solution to end the impasse between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, farmers in delta districts want the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, who is also the Chairman of the Cauvery River Authority, to ensure that justice is done to them.

"As both the States are nowhere near a consensus and time is also running out, we want him to make an independent assessment of the situation and issue necessary orders to provide us relief", says a spokesman of the Cauvery Delta Farmers' Welfare Association. The CRA is scheduled to meet on November 29.

For the farmers, the immediate future is uncertain, as water is required for the next two to three months to sustain the standing crop. With each passing day, the storage in the Mettur dam declines and the reservoir receives little inflow.

"Even a major portion of the directly-sown crop needs water for at least 60-70 days and the youngest crop, sown 40 days ago, should be provided supply for 100 days more", the spokesman explains. This means water will be needed till the end of February. As against the normal Samba coverage of 3.78 lakh hectares in the delta districts, this time it is expected to be around 2.8 lakh hectares, including the area under direct sowing on 1.6 lakh hectares.

Considering the demand for 0.8 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) per day and making allowance for possible rainy days, Tamil Nadu has calculated the requirement at 70 tmcft. Apart from this, 10 tmcft is required for drinking water supply in the districts covered by the Cauvery.

In contrast to the total requirement, the storage in Mettur this morning was about 25. 2 tmcft and the inflow was a mere 2,619 cusecs (cubic feet per second).

"In case we do not get adequate water from Karnataka, our situation will become precarious and we will be left at the mercy of nature", says the spokesman. There is a possibility of rainfall in the first half of next month, but December accounts for only one-fifth of the normal monsoon precipitation.

Row over figures

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are locked up in an intense argument over figures. While the former says the shortfall in realisation of Cauvery water is 23 tmcft during September and October, going by the orders of the CRA and the Supreme Court, the latter contends that the deficit is only six tmcft.

And, Karnataka has taken Biligundlu as the reference point, whereas Tamil Nadu contends that only the inflow into Mettur should be taken into account, as per the directions of the CRA and the court.

According to information available here, Karnataka reservoirs have a combined storage of about 50 tmcft.

"As December is the harvest period in Karnataka, a significant portion of our requirement can be met", says a senior official. Going by the experience of recent months and the outcome of CRA meetings, State Government officials are concerned at the prospects of the standing crop and the immediate future of both farmers and agricultural workers.

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