‘Farmers won’t benefit from early release of Mettur water’

Salem: Former AIADMK minister S Semmalai has urged the state government to implement the Mettur surplus water scheme without any fail.
In a media statement on Tuesday, he lambasted the DMK government for releasing the water from the Mettur dam three weeks ahead of the traditional date of June 12, stating the farmers in the delta districts won’t be able to utilize the same. “The farmers in the delta districts usually prepare for kuruvai crop only after June 12. When the water is being released on June 12, it allows farmers enough time to prepare for kuruvai cultivation. Since they are not prepared for kuruvai cultivation now, the water being released will only go waste. The water, if unused by them, would end up in sea,” Semmalai, who was former Mettur MLA, said.
He said the dam might not reach its full capacity of 120ft, as the government released the water early this year. “Similarly, we won’t be able to fill the 103 lakes in the Edappadi assembly segment with the surplus water from the dam. The farmers, who are dependent on the lakes in the district for irrigation, suspect that the government is trying to terminate the AIADMK’s Mettur surplus water scheme by releasing the water much earlier from the dam. To alleviate their fears, the state government should implement the Mettur surplus water scheme by allowing the dam to reach its full capacity.”
Water resources minister Durai Murugan, meanwhile, said the Union government had put pressure on the state to release the water before the dam reached its full storage capacity. “The Centre warned that the dam would be damaged, if more water arrived. Hence, we released the water three weeks ahead of the customary date of June 12,” he had said while addressing a public meeting near Attur here on Tuesday evening.