PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday expressed deep concern over the sharp fall in water storage at the Mettur dam, saying Karnataka had reduced the release of Cauvery water and urging the Tamil Nadu government to announce direct relief packages to protect farmers’ livelihoods.
He said the drop in inflows had cast serious doubt over the upcoming Samba paddy season in the Cauvery delta. According to him, nearly 40 per cent of the delta’s farmland may remain uncultivated, and farmers who had already missed the Kuruvai season were now facing the loss of their annual livelihood.
In a party statement, Anbumani said inflow into the Mettur dam had fallen to 2,281 cusecs after a sharp reduction in discharge from Karnataka reservoirs. “As a result, the dam’s water level has dropped to 84 feet (max 120 ft), with total storage shrinking to 46 TMC (thousand million cubic feet), just 49.21 per cent of its full capacity of 93.47 TMC),” the Rajya Sabha member said.
He added that the available storage would support irrigation for only 35 days, raising serious doubts over whether Samba cultivation could go ahead. He also said he was doubtful whether even a normal northeast monsoon from October to December would be enough to improve the situation.
Citing the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and Supreme Court orders, he said Karnataka should have released 113.33 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu by September 22, but had delivered a “mere 43 TMC”, leaving a shortfall of 70 TMC. He further said Karnataka’s reservoirs were holding only 60 TMC of water, of which 37 TMC was usable, while combined inflows had fallen to 6,695 cusecs against an outflow of 14,000 cusecs. In this situation, he said, water releases to Tamil Nadu could stop completely in the coming days.
Anbumani urged the Tamil Nadu government to pay compensation of Rs 25,000 per acre to farmers who could not take up Samba or Thaladi cultivation because of the water shortage. He also sought a special Samba input assistance package of Rs 10,000 per acre for all participating farmers, and continuous three-phase electricity till February 2027 for the remaining 60 per cent of land dependent on groundwater irrigation.
He further asked the government to issue clear advisories on direct seeding, saying nursery raising was no longer practical for late-September planting before the monsoon, and to ensure the unrestricted supply of seeds, fertilisers and micro-nutrients.
– Ends
Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Sep 22, 2026 13:13 IST
