Farmers submitting petitions to Collector S. Kandasamy during the farmers grievance meeting at the Collectorate in Erode on Friday.
Tension prevailed for a while at the monthly farmers’ grievance redressal meeting held in Erode on Friday (July 17) after farmers from the Kalingarayan and Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) irrigation systems pressed their respective demands over the release of water from the Bhavanisagar Dam.
The meeting, chaired by District Collector S. Kandasamy, was briefly disrupted as more than 300 LBP Canal farmers gathered outside the hall seeking permission to participate. Since the hall was occupied by Kalingarayan farmers presenting their grievances, officials asked the LBP farmers to wait outside, triggering a heated exchange. Later, after the Kalingarayan farmers concluded their representations, over 100 LBP farmers were allowed into the meeting hall.
Kalingarayan ayacut farmers urged the district administration to continue releasing water for irrigation, stating that the water, normally released on June 15, is being supplied for only 15 days, starting July 14, owing to poor storage in the dam. With reservoir inflows improving, they sought uninterrupted supply and objected to demands from other irrigation systems opposing releases to the Kalingarayan and Kodiveri ayacut.
The LBP farmers argued that the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal does not permit irrigation releases during summer. They alleged that while older irrigation systems received water for two paddy crop seasons, the 2.07 lakh-acre LBP ayacut had often been denied even one full irrigation.
They claimed that the LBP command area had lost irrigation for dry crops 16 times and wet crops eight times over the past 68 years. They also alleged that the same quantity of about 30 tmcft. of water was being allocated to irrigation systems covering only about 40,000 acres, terming the distribution inequitable.
The farmers further alleged that water at around 80,000 cusecs had been released into the Bhavani river through the Kodiveri system since April and said better water management could have helped conserve storage in the Bhavanisagar reservoir. Citing drought conditions in the LBP command area, they demanded that water be supplied for 15 days each to odd-numbered and even-numbered canals, warning of protests if their demand was not met.
Mr. Kandasamy said the water requirements of the Kalingarayan, Kodiveri and LBP irrigation systems would be examined by a technical committee in consultation with the Water Resources Department. Appropriate action would be taken to ensure equitable distribution of water without creating differences among farmers of the three irrigation systems, he added.
Published – July 17, 2026 06:45 pm IST
