Monsoon eases Tamil Nadu-Karnataka tension

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The monsoon is flooding the Chennai roads and thr­owing life out of gear but on the ex­plosive political canvas, the heavy showers have cooled down the tempers — albeit temporarily — for the warring neighb­o­u­rs Tamil Nadu and Kar­n­a­taka over the sharing of Cauvery waters.

Heavy rainfall in the catc­h­ment area is bringing the flo­od releases into Billig­un­dlu, the gauge (measuring) stati­on of the Central Water Com­m­ission, from where the wa­t­er is drawn for irrigation in TN, even though the Jagad­i­sh Sh­e­ttar government had taken the state that ‘not a drop of wa­ter will be given to TN’.

“There is a ceasefire on Ca­uvery now, but this is a temporary relief, a brief sol­ace. The delta farmers need 2 tm­c­ft per day till Ja­n­uary but now they are only getting ra­in releases of about 6,000 cu­s­ecs (released for 24 hours), which is just 0.5 tmcft.

"Only 20-25 per cent of the targeted area has been brought under sa­m­ba cultivation. Karnata­ka has reduced the Cauvery release saying TN does not need it because of the rain. This is not the correct situation. What happ­e­ns if the ra­i­n­fall drops in the next couple of days?” wo­ndered gene­ral secret­a­ry Arupathy P. Ka­lyanam of the Cauvery De­lta Farmers’ Federation.

Continous rain in Tamil Nadu

* Tamil Nadu received 100% more than normal rainfall for a period of 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Friday.

* With the trough of low pressure moving towards southern Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan waters, the state will receive very heavy rainfall for the next few days.

* Educational institutions in Chennai will remain closed on Saturday.

* Traffic came to a standstill on several Chennai roads for second consecutive day

* Traffic police alerts on flooded stretches turned out useful for motorists