Understanding CM Vijay’s Mettur visit and Tamil Nadu’s Cauvery conundrum

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay oversaw the opening of the sluices of the Stanley reservoir in Mettur on September 1, for irrigation and drinking water purposes in the Cauvery Delta region. Will this delayed release of water help the farmers and the Delta?

Clad in a silk dhoti and a shirt, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay was all smiles. A huge crowd had gathered on either side of the road from Salem airport to near the Mettur dam, turning his convoy journey into a grand roadshow. He posed for pictures as women waited along the road to catch a glimpse of him en route to the dam premises, and the elderly welcomed him into their thatched-roof houses.

The event soon gained public attention as visuals of Vijay hugging an elderly woman and gifting his expensive Christian Dior sunglasses to her went viral on social media. TVK social media accounts and his fan pages celebrated the moment as a gesture of kindness and called him the “people’s CM.”

But far from the media and social media promotion, Vijay’s Mettur visit and the opening of the sluice gates of the Stanley reservoir have raised larger questions. For how long will water flow from the dam? Will it support Samba cultivation and also serve drinking water purposes as planned?

In a statement issued after the water release from Mettur, the chief minister said, “Let us use water sparingly, ensure it reaches the end user.” Vijay’s statement was to reaffirm to the farmers and the people of the state that his government will not compromise its rights upheld by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the Supreme Court’s 2018 verdict. The statement said that the government will continue to pursue legal and administrative measures to secure the state’s rights in the Cauvery.

The water release from the Stanley reservoir is considered a lifeline for farmers in the Delta region. Every year, water from the dam is released on June 12 to help farmers cultivate kuruvai, which is the short-term crop in the delta districts of Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, and Mayiladuthurai. But these days, farmers go for Samba or long-term crops as water availability does not support Kuruvai crops anymore. The designated date was fixed as June 12 many years ago, as the south-west monsoon usually picks up pace in Kerala and Karnataka at the beginning of June and water flows from the catchment areas. Tamil Nadu, being the lower riparian state, usually depends on the water released from Karnataka in the Cauvery and Kerala in the Mullaperiyar.

However, many a time, the designated June 12 date was not met if the water level did not touch 90 feet. And this time too, as the water flow from Karnataka did not reach the required level, the designated June 12 deadline was missed. In the past 92 years, since the Mettur dam came into existence, the deadline of June 12 has been missed at least 61 times. In the past five years, the gates were opened before the designated date at least thrice as the water flow was heavy due to rain in the catchment areas in Karnataka.

At 8 am, hours before Vijay reached the reservoir, the water level at the dam stood at 91.56 feet against its full level of 120 feet. The storage level was 54.45 tmc ft, which is just a little above half the capacity — 93.47 tmc ft — of the Mettur dam. And before Vijay reached Mettur, the inflow had actually come down from 11,502 cusecs to 10,857 cusecs.

And at 11:30 am, as Vijay showered flowers and grains from above the dam, water gushed out of the sluice gates, reflecting the high hopes of farmers in the Delta region. The Cauvery is the lifeline for the agrarian community in the Thanjavur delta, where over 16.05 lakh acres depend on the water release from Mettur for Samba cultivation. As the water level is already low, the government is planning to release 1 tmc ft every day for 45 days to support the farmers. The release will continue until the north-east monsoon sets in around mid-October so that farmers can sustain their crops until then. But will this be sufficient and support the delta region? When will the water reach the tail end of the delta?

Usually, the dam opened on June 12 is closed on January 28 every year, providing a 230-day window for irrigation. The water flows endlessly to the tail end of the delta to support farmers. In fact, last year, farmers in the Cauvery region claimed that there was record paddy cultivation across about 6.30 lakh acres. But this time, it has come down drastically to only about 2 lakh acres.

“In the past five years, the water flowed down here in the beginning of August itself. But this time, we are still waiting for water in the river, with no idea when this one tmc ft will reach our village,” says Sakthivel Shanmugam, a 52-year-old farmer who lives in Kattur, a village in Thiruvarur district. Bordered by the Vennar and Vettar rivers, Kattur village in the Koradacherry block is part of the Cauvery delta region. He says it might take at least two weeks for the water to reach the delta.

The silk veshti and shirt attire of the chief minister, his interaction with the villagers, the gifting of his expensive Christian Dior sunglasses, women jumping in excitement upon seeing him wave, and men clicking selfies were moments of celebration. His interactions drew loud applause, and women in the agricultural fields spoke with Vijay as he returned to the airport. But for the farmers, the water release from Mettur, the selfie moments, and the loud applause may not help in any way, as the water level is just a little above half of the 93.47 tmc ft capacity. And releasing just one tmc ft every day, with a request to use the water wisely for cultivation, is akin to a selfie show.