Overview
- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay opened the sluice gates at Mettur on Tuesday, September 1, starting a 45-day irrigation release that officials say is conditional on storage and continuing inflows.
- Water-resources officials reported inflows near 10,000–10,485 cusecs and reservoir levels around 90–91.6 ft (about 53–54 tmcft), and set initial discharges of roughly 3,000 cusecs for irrigation while keeping about 2,000 cusecs for drinking water.
- Delta farmers in tail-end districts such as Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur urged a 10-day postponement, arguing the 45-day window is too short for the longer-duration samba crop and that water can take weeks to reach downstream channels.
- The opening occurs during the long-running Cauvery dispute: the Supreme Court has adjourned related proceedings to September 15 for parties to place these developments on record as Tamil Nadu presses Karnataka to make good accumulated shortfalls.
- Authorities warn the release’s longevity depends on incoming flows and the northeast monsoon; if inflows materialize the window could be extended modestly, but persistent shortfalls would leave tail-end farmers and saline-groundwater areas at high risk.