Chennai, May 29 (IANS): With the Mettur dam in Tamil Nadu slated to be opened on June 12 to release water into agricultural farms, the Cauvery delta farmers are elated.

Farmers of 12 districts of the Cauvery delta belt will benefit with the dam opening date, which is the mandatory date of opening dam and releasing water into farmlands.

However, farmers have appealed to the government to get the due share from Karnataka. The farmers in the Cauvery delta belt will be cultivating Kuruvai, Samba and Thalady in 17.37 lakh acres of farmland.

Since 2021, the water release from Mettur dam has been regular and has led to bumper crops during the past two years.

In 2021 water was released on its mandatory date of June 12 while in 2022 water from Mettur dam was released on May 20 which was earlier than the usual release time. The water being released earlier was a major milestone and led to a bumper crop.

Currently, the catchment area of the Mettur dam and the dam has adequate storage of water. The weather department has predicted the South West Monsoon from June 4.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will be releasing the water from Salem on June 12.