Chennai: Citing poor storage, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday ruled out opening the sluice gates of Mettur Dam on June 12 for 'kuruvai' (short-term) paddy crop in the Cauvery delta, but announced a Rs 115 crore package to help farmers take up cultivation using available water resources.
The dam, built across the Cauvery river which is the lifeline of farmers in delta districts in the state, is opened on June 12 annually for irrigating the short-term crop, but the traditional date had been missed on several occasions in the past too due to inadequate storage.
Chief Minister K Palaniswami, in a statement in the Assembly, said the sluice gates of the dam in Salem district would not be opened on June 12 due to low storage and blamed Karnataka for not releasing Cauvery water last year, resulting in the lower realisation of water.
He said against the dam's maximum level of 120 feet, the water level in the reservoir presently stood at 39.42 feet and it can be opened only if the water level reached 90 feet.
"There is a situation where it is not possible to release water for kuruvai crop with this storage level as per schedule on June 12," the chief minister said.
He then announced the package for farmers, which included subsidies on seeds and farm equipment and other initiatives to enable farmers take up 'kuruvai' cultivation in around three lakh acres of land.
However, this did not cut ice with the opposition parties which walked out of the assembly.
Leader of the Opposition M K Stalin of DMK criticised the chief minister's statement on inability to open the Mettur dam according to schedule and then led a walkout of his party legislators. Stalin had been demanding release of water from the dam on June 12.
DMK's allies, the Congress and IUML later staged a walk-out on the issue.
Earlier, Palaniswami said water could not be released from the dam on June 12 for the last six years due to storage issue and recalled that chief minister J Jayalalithaa had announced similar packages.
Palaniswami also said that he himself had announced a Rs 56 crore package last year.