Cauvery realisation by Tamil Nadu in June back to the usual deficit pattern

The Cauvery realisation by Tamil Nadu in June was back to the usual deficit pattern as the State realised a little less than three thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) against the stipulated 9.19 tmc ft for the month. 

This was in contrast to what the State received last year at the Biligundulu station of the Central Water Commission located on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. During June 2025, the realisation was a whopping 42 tmc ft. The shortfall in realisation for this June was about 6.3 tmc ft. 

A perusal of the realisation data for the last 10 years reveals that in seven years,  the receipt during June was lower than the stipulated quantum. Only in three years – 2018, 2022 and 2025 – did the realisation exceed the figure of 9.19 tmc ft. Apart from the current year, three other years – 2019, 2023 and 2024 – witnessed the receipt of being around two tmc ft.  The lowest realisation in the last 10 years was in 2017 when the State did not get even one tmc ft. 

As there had been no water release for irrigation from the Mettur dam in view of the poor storage, the dam’s water level stood at about 78 ft (full level: 120 ft) on Thursday morning with the storage being approximately 40 tmc ft (capacity: 93.47 tmc ft). Since 2017, the lowest level at which the authorities opened the dam for irrigation was 94.84 ft that year. Then, the release commenced on October 2 and the storage was 58.36 tmc ft.   Only when the water level reaches the 90-ft mark, the authorities would consider beginning the water release. Conscious of the situation, the government itself had scaled down, for the current year, the area of cultivation during the current Kuruvai season to about 3.55 lakh acres against the nor­mal area of 4.4 lakh acres  for the delta.