According to P Kalaivanan, one of the team members, the present storage in the Mettur is over 62 TMC and as per the apex court direction the state would receive 167.25 TMC. Together 229 TMC would be available for Delta irrigation. As many as 12 districts in Tamil Nadu and parts of Karaikal in Puducherry would be benefited through the Mettur dam water as it would help to undertake cultivation in 18 lakh acre, including current kuruvai pattom in 3.50 lakh acre and thaladi in 3.25 lakh acre and for samba in 11 lakh acre and horticulture crops, including banana and sugarcane together in an acre over 80,000 has been focused.

The team members claimed that since the available water is inadequate to cultivate paddy in all seasons, they suggested the farmers utilize groundwater as well as the water through the monsoon rains for completing the entire cultivation.

“We have adequate ground water for cultivation of 1.75 lakh acre kuruvai out of the target of 3.50 lakh acre and so the farmers can start preparing nurseries and planting before the release from Mettur and this would save 15 TMC,” Kalaivanan said.

Similarly, for samba season, out of the projected 11 lakh acre, at least 5 lakh acre cultivation can be undertaken through the monsoon rains during July and August by adopting direct sowing method. During the monsoon, the farmers can till, plough and ready nurseries and this would save at least 25 TMC. Thus, with the support of monsoon and the 229 TMC Mettur water, both kuruvai and samba would be successful, the senior agro technocrat explained.

Listing out all these factors, the team suggested the state government release the water from Mettur on the customary date of June 12.

They also advised the farmers to ready the preparatory works by this week and urged the government to make an announcement at least by May 15, the team said.

Meanwhile, senior technocrats urged the state government to provide uninterrupted three phase power supply in May and June to take up kuruvai works and get the due water as per the apex court direction.

They also appealed to undertake all kudimaramathu and desilting works in the water bodies before the release of water from Mettur.

The team suggested the state government to organise special camps for the farmers to advise them to undertake 50 per cent of samba cultivation through direct sowing which would ensure the maximum utility of monsoon rain.