Government to release Cauvery water to canals but asks farmers not to use water for paddy and sugar cane

At last, the state government has decided to release Cauvery water to dried up canals from the four reservoirs of the Cauvery catchment areas from Wednesday midnight. Although this has brought cheers to the farming community, their happiness may not last long. For, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has pleaded the farming community not to use the water to grow paddy and sugar cane using the water.

The State Cabinet on Wednesday decided to release the water to the dried up canals to meet the drinking water needs and also to enhance the water table level.

But the chief minister has appealed to the farmers not to use the water to grow sugar cane and paddy from the canals. "Water cannot be released for these purposes. Instead, the farming community should switch to grow rain-fed crops than growing sugarcane and paddy. While sugar cane is the dominant crop of Mandya and Mysuru regions, paddy is grown in Hemavathi regions. Mandya is called the sugar bowl of Karnataka. But the chief minister's appeal to switch other crops has come as a rude shock to the farmers. Besides, the farmers have already sowed the seeds and it has been two months since the sowing season has completed. The state government has decided to release water now and the farmer are not too happy.

Lack of rain along the Cauvery basis has left canals dry, especially the Vivesvaraya Canal, the main source of Cauvery water to Mandya and Pandavapura. This year the canal has been completely dry and water was not released even once, reports Star of Mysore. The present storage level in KRS stands for 16.16 tmcft while the reservoir had registered 20.68 tmcft last year. While the government has not released water at least once this year, water is being continously released to Tamil Nadu from KRS and Kabini, reports Star of Mysore.

While the chief minister's appeal to farmers to change the cropping pattern is justifiable in view of the decreasing rainfall over the years, one wonders will the same be applied to Tamil Nadu farmers who also use Cauvery water to grow paddy.

Meanwhile, former chief minister and now BJP leader SM Krishna has condemned the government's decision to release water now two months after the sowing season has completed. "The crops are already dried up waiting for water. Why is the government releasing water now," former union minister asked.

• cauvery water
• KRS
• cauvery water to canals
• karnataka