Mettur dam shutters to open Monday

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The Mettur reservoir will be opened on Monday to facilitate agricultural operations in the Delta region.

The water, which would irrigate about 4.8 hectares in Tiruchi and Thanjavur districts, will be released till January next year for the cultivation of Samba crop, PWD officials said.

The level of water in the dam stood at 83.43 feet on Sunday as against the full level of 120 feet, with an inflow of 10,896 cusecs and a discharge of 1,996 cusecs.

Chief minister J. Jayalalithaa had announced a slew of measures last week to ensure substantial yield during the crucial Samba season in the Cauvery Delta and allotted Rs 53.53 crore for 14 schemes to ringing in new techniques for cultivation.

With Karnataka government having agreed before the Supreme Court to release 10,000 cusecs of water till Sept. 20, the water level in the dam has been rising.

By releasing water before the onset of the northeast monsoon the government hopes to maximise the yield from Samba rice harvest this season.

Following the awareness created among farmers on new cultivation methods, which were widely welcomed by farmers, the chief minister had doubled the subsidy component from Rs 240 to Rs 480 per acre and increased the area for Samba crop cultivation from one lakh acres to 2.5 lakh acres.

Karnataka government’s failure to release Cauvery water had severely affected Kuruvai crop in the Delta districts.

Despite low storage levels in the dam, Ms Jayalalithaa’s timely efforts in providing three-phase power for 12 hours a day had helped the farmers to raise Kuruvai crop in about 1.60 lakh acres.