TN farmers' body to meet President Murmu on Sept 4, to appeal for ex-gratia over Cauvery dispute

Chennai, Aug 18 (AHN) National South Indian Rivers Interlinking Farmers Association State President, P Ayyakannu, said on Tuesday that the outfit has appealed to meet President Droupadi Murmu next month to request for Rs 1 lakh crore compensation from Karnataka for allegedly failing to release the Cauvery river water, leaving farmers to face droughts in Tamil Nadu.

Speaking to AHN, Ayyakannu said: "According to the Constitution and the Supreme Court's instructions, Tamil Nadu releases (Cauvery river) water every month to Karnataka but the latter refuses to do so. As a result, all big, small and marginal farmers are affected by drought."

He added that on September 4, the association will visit Delhi and submit a memorandum to President Murmu seeking Rs 1 lakh crore compensation from the Karnataka government for allegedly failing to release the Cauvery river water "as per the rules and regulations".

"We have already sent a letter asking for permission to meet the President... the compensation must be paid to the farmers in Tamil Nadu to prevent them from committing suicides," he said.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu’s reservoir storage has fallen sharply as an underperforming southwest monsoon and unusually high temperatures continue to strain the state's water resources.

As of Monday, the 90 reservoirs monitored by the Water Resources Department together held 83.124 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft), representing only 37.05 per cent of their combined capacity of 224.343 tmcft.

The position is considerably worse than a year ago, when the reservoirs contained 189.545 tmcft during the corresponding period.

The current volume is less than half of last year's level, highlighting the severity of the rainfall deficit and raising concerns over irrigation and drinking-water availability in several districts.

Only the Gundar reservoir in Tenkasi district has reached its full capacity of 18.43 million cubic feet.

Most other reservoirs remain far below their storage limits.

Of the 90 reservoirs, 58 have less than 25 per cent storage, 14 are between 26 per cent and 50 per cent, 15 are between 51 per cent and 76 per cent, and only two have crossed the 80 per cent mark.

Mettur, Tamil Nadu's most important reservoir for Cauvery delta irrigation, held 43.275 tmcft on Monday, or 46.30 per cent of its total capacity of 93.470 tmcft.