Stalin urged to advance Lower Bhavani dam water release

TIRUPUR: The environment wing of the DMK has urged the Tamil Nadu govt to advance the release of water from the Lower Bhavani dam to Aug 1, instead of the scheduled Aug 15, in view of severe water scarcity in Erode, Tirupur and Karur districts.In a letter to chief minister M K Stalin, DMK environment wing secretary and Non-Resident Tamils Welfare Board chairman Karthikeya Sivasenapathy pointed out that the region -- already in the rain shadow zone -- had received poor rainfall during recent monsoons, threatening both irrigation and drinking water supplies.“The dam currently holds 25.85 TMC of water at a level of 96.20 feet as of July 14, thanks to rainfall in the catchment areas in the Western Ghats.

Given this storage, the govt must consider releasing water by Aug 1 to protect farmers’ interests,” Sivasenapathy said in the letter.He stressed that more than 2.07 lakh acres of farmland depend on the Lower Bhavani Project Canal and that any delay in water release could endanger cropping plans and livelihoods in the agrarian districts. He sought immediate action to prevent a drought-like situation.