The rainfall witnessed last week by parts of south interior Karnataka (SIK), including certain areas of Bengaluru, came handy for Tamil Nadu to realise nearly two-thirds of the Cauvery water, as stipulated by the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) for the period ending up to November 23.
Up to November 9, the realisation, as recorded at Biligundulu, was 3.29 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) against the prescribed quantity of 5.17 tmc ft for 23 days of November. This could be attributed to the SIK region recording a deviation of 136% in rainfall during the week that ended November 8. Between June 1 and November 9, the State received 61.3 tmc ft.
The Mettur dam, the lifeline of the Cauvery delta, received a gross amount of 2.76 tmc ft during the period in question, after taking into account incremental discharge into the river. On Saturday morning, the dam’s water level stood at 58.15 ft with the storage being 23.33 tmc ft. Inflow was about 8,400 cubic feet per second (cusecs) while the discharge into the river was around 250 cusecs.
Meanwhile, as the procurement of paddy, raised during the kuruvai cultivation season, is approaching its end, the State Civil Supplies Corporation is operating 200-250 direct purchase centres (DPCs) in the Cauvery delta and 5 to 15 in the non-delta region, procuring about 2,500 to 3,000 tonnes per day. “Micro level planning is done by respective District Collectors, based on inputs from various departments coupled with feedback from farmers,” says a senior official in the Food and Civil Supplies department. However, in view of less coverage this time, the procurement this time is lower than what was recorded last year.
As for procurement by the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF), the official clarifies that the Federation has been assigned only the non-delta districts. “As of now, there is no procurement being done by the NCCF. The DPCs have been closed down as there are no paddy arrivals,” the official adds.
