Vaigai dam water release: TN officials to hold discussions with farmers today

Chennai, Oct 19 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu Public Works Department (PWD) will hold a meeting with the officials and farmers regarding the release of water from Vaigai dam, said officials on Thursday.

The sporadic rainfall in the last few days have led to an unprecedented increase in the water levels in Vaigai dam and farmers have urged officials to open the shutters of the dam at the earliest.

With the Kuruvai paddy season about to come to an end and the Samba farming to commence, the PWD will conduct a meeting with the stakeholders including farmers and officials of the department.

Due to the shortage of water, many farmers in Madurai district had missed out on the Kuruvai paddy cultivation. Even after the Samba season has begun, farmers have been waiting to sow the seeds due to lack of water. However with the heavy rain in the past several days, the water level has increased in Vaigai River and in the reservoir attached to the river.

The special meeting is being held on Thursday to discuss the release of water as the Northeast monsoon has also set in Tamil Nadu.

R.K. Ganapathy, a farmer while speaking to IANS, said that the water levels have now come up in Vaigai River and hence the farmers are looking up for commencing Samba paddy cultivation even as already one month has lapsed due to the shortage of water in the reservoirs for irrigating the farm lands.