Farmers in the delta districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam are staring down the barrel with the prospects of kuruvai crop looking bleak. This is the fifth time on the trot that the delta is set to lose cash-giving kuruvai crop in a vast majority of its area.
The storage level in the Mettur dam is not going to allow reopening of the reservoir on the customary June 12 for the delta’s kuruvai irrigation. The chance of Mettur’s Stanley Reservoir receiving appreciable inflow from Karnataka dams is bleak as the dams in the upper reaches of the Cauvery is almost dry and Karnataka is also reeling under severe water scarcity in most places.
“It is impractical for us to think of kuruvai this season too,” rues Samy Natarajan, Thanjavur district president of the CPI (M)-affiliated Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam.
The weathermen say the South West Monsoon may set in by the second week of June. Even then, the dams in Karnataka should get filled and only after that the authorities there would allow surplus water to flow to Mettur dam. The water level should reach a comfortable height for the government to consider opening the reservoir for the delta.
All that might take a few weeks by which time the kuruvai crop would be pushed back to impinge on samba season, says Mr. Natarajan.
Usually kuruvai paddy is raised on 4.5 lakh acres in the three districts and over the past four years the crop had been lost owing to water scarcity. There was no timely flow down the Cauvery and the State government had to take a calculated gamble in opening the Mettur dam for delta irrigation in the past four years. This year is also going the same way.
Farmers who have borewell irrigation facility are able to raise the crop on an estimated 1.5 lakh acres. Last year, there was power shortage in some pockets which affected non-stop three-phase supply. Otherwise, it is only the1.50 lakh acres that constituted kuruvai in the past four years.
“We fear that this year will be no different. On the one hand we can’t afford to lose kuruvai straight away while on the other we are afraid to go for it as none could guess the flow in the Cauvery. Worse, we can’t blame Karnataka or the State government for this situation,”' observes a farmer S. Durairaj of Erukkattoor in Tiruvarur district. If rains get delayed, drinking water availability for riverside cities will pose an additional problem, he says.
Under these circumstances Chief Minister Jayalalithaa could announce a kuruvai package and also ensure that all those who had raised kuruvai paddy got the benefits of the package. In the previous years, there were allegations that only those close to the power centres got the benefits while the real farmers were left in the lurch, points out vice-president of the Tamil Nadu Vivasaya Thozhilalar Sangam V. Jeevakumar.
