T.N. may be heading towards a water crisis, unless northeast monsoon comes to the rescue

CHENNAI Tamil Nadu may be in for a spell of water crisis and lower rice production this time, if the current Northeast monsoon does not come to its rescue. As of now, the aggregate storage in the major 15 irrigation reservoirs is about a third of the combined capacity of the reservoirs. In the corresponding period last year, the situation was completely different with the combined storage being around 92%.

The State’s largest dam, Mettur, has about 23 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) but this is hardly enough for the authorities to maintain sustained release of water to farmers, beyond a week, in the Cauvery delta. The rainfall during the Northeast monsoon has been moderate as the State has received around 240 mm of rainfall against the anticipated 236 mm. It should get at least 260 mm more to be considered comfortable, the most of which should materialise in November.

Ordinarily, December yields only about 20% of the total rainfall of the monsoon.