Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has taken a significant step to extend assistance to farmers residing in the Cauvery Delta region of the state who have encountered substantial losses attributable to the scarcity of water resources.
The Mettur dam was inaugurated on June 12 to facilitate the cultivation of kuruvai crops. Regrettably, the insufficient release of Cauvery water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu has given rise to a plethora of challenges confronting farmers in the Delta region.
According to an official statement from the chief minister, agricultural crops spread across 40,000 acres of arable land have borne the brunt of destruction due to the severe water shortage.
In light of this critical situation, the government of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has made an important announcement, declaring a compensation package amounting to Rs 13,500 per hectare for those farmers whose crop yields have suffered adversely.
In recent days, numerous farmer groups in Delta districts such as Trichy and Thanjavur have resorted to staging protests aimed at the Karnataka government, demanding a more equitable release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. Concurrently, they have been earnestly appealing to the DMK government for its intervention in this pressing matter.
The reluctance of Karnataka to release an adequate quantity of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu has been met with significant opposition from the farmers. Karnataka has argued that the state's reservoirs are inadequately filled due to an unfavorable monsoon season, rendering them unable to meet the water requirements.
Consequently, Tamil Nadu has received a reduced volume of water when compared to the monthly allocation stipulated by the Supreme Court in the context of the Cauvery water dispute.
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