The Coordination Committee of All Farmers Associations of Tamil Nadu has sought clear directions to the delta farmers from the State government on the sowing technique to be adopted for samba cultivation in view of the current storage position at the Stanley Reservoir, Mettur.

In a statement on August 28, Committee president P.R. Pandian said that announcing the date for release of water from the Stanley Reservoir for samba cultivation without guiding farmers on the sowing method to be adopted for samba cultivation would be of no use. It would be better to have a tripartite discussion on which type of sowing, either direct or raising of nursery, should be adopted during the ensuing samba/thaladi season before lifting the shutters for irrigation, he said.

Farmers should be advised whether to go for short- or long-term varieties. The availability of paddy seeds should be ascertained before deciding on the number of days and quantum of water to be released from the dam.

The State government should prevail upon the Karnataka government to release the due share of Tamil Nadu in Cauvery water as per the final order of the Supreme Court since all the dams in Karnataka have full storage, Mr. Pandian added.

The Coordination Committee of All Farmers’ Associations of Tamil Nadu has demanded a reciprocal visit of Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to delta districts of Tamil Nadu to get first hand information about the prevailing situation.

Committee president P.R. Pandian told presspersons here on Thursday that there were reports emerging that the Karnataka Chief Minister had made arrangements for an aerial survey of the catchment areas and dams in Karnataka during the proposed visit of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay.

If that happened, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister should bring his Karnataka counterpart for an aerial survey of the delta districts of Tamil Nadu, though organising such meetings or inspections of the Cauvery Basin dams without the permission of the Cauvery Water Management Authority would tantamount to contempt of court, he added.

While welcoming the action of Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) in returning the Mekedatu project proposal to Karnataka, Mr. Pandian requested the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to take note of the reply from the Centre to a question by Mayiladuthurai MP R. Sudha in Parliament.

Responding to Congress MP’s question, the Union Government clarified that Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change could not grant consent without the CWMA’s permission.

Further, it had been clearly mentioned in the Supreme Court order that the upper riparian State could not take up dam construction without the consent of the lower riparian States. Hence, the committee pleaded with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to consider these points before initiating any steps/actions with respect to the river water sharing.