Tamil Nadu Faces Water Crisis as Reservoir Storage Plummets

Tamil Nadu's 15 major irrigation reservoirs hold only about a third of their combined capacity, down sharply from 92% a year ago, raising fears of water shortages and lower rice output. Mettur dam has roughly 23 tmcft, insufficient for sustained Cauvery delta releases beyond a week, even as farmers have planted about 3.62 lakh hectares of paddy.