Mettur Dam water storage has fallen sharply after a reported reduction in Cauvery water releases from Karnataka, raising concerns over Tamil Nadu’s upcoming Samba paddy season, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss said in a party statement issued on Tuesday.
Anbumani said inflow into the dam had dropped to 2,281 cusecs, while the water level stood at 84 feet against the reservoir’s maximum level of 120 feet. Storage was reported at 46 thousand million cubic feet (TMC), or 49.21 per cent of the dam’s full capacity of 93.47 TMC.
The Rajya Sabha member said the available reserves could sustain irrigation for only 35 days, creating uncertainty over the feasibility of Samba cultivation in the Cauvery delta. He also questioned whether even an average northeast monsoon between October and December would be sufficient to improve the situation.
According to Anbumani, Karnataka was required to release 113.33 TMC of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu by September 22 under the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award and Supreme Court orders. He claimed that Karnataka had released only 43 TMC, leaving a shortfall of 70 TMC. These figures were cited in the PMK statement and were not independently established in the supplied report.
Anbumani also said Karnataka’s reservoirs held 60 TMC, of which 37 TMC was usable, while combined inflows had fallen to 6,695 cusecs against an outflow of 14,000 cusecs. He warned that releases to Tamil Nadu could stop entirely in the coming days if the imbalance continued.
The PMK leader estimated that nearly 40 per cent of Cauvery delta land could remain uncultivated because of the shortage. He said farmers had already missed the Kuruvai cultivation season and could face the loss of their annual livelihood if Samba and Thaladi cultivation were also disrupted.
He asked the Tamil Nadu government to provide compensation of Rs 25,000 per acre to farmers unable to undertake Samba or Thaladi cultivation because of inadequate water. He also sought a special Samba input assistance package of Rs 10,000 per acre for participating farmers and continuous three-phase electricity until February 2027 for the remaining 60 per cent of land dependent on groundwater irrigation.
The demands also include clear advisories on direct seeding, which Anbumani said should be prioritised because nursery raising was no longer viable for late-September planting before the northeast monsoon. He called for unrestricted availability of seeds, fertilisers and micronutrients as the state assesses the irrigation position.
