Lower Bhavani Farmers Seek 3 TMC to Protect Crops Across 1.035 Lakh Acres
Rural Development Today | 5 October 2026 | Development Connects
Farmers in the Lower Bhavani Project command area of Tamil Nadu have asked the Water Resources Department to release 3 TMC of water over 15 days to protect standing crops across approximately 1.035 lakh acres.
Farmer representatives submitted the request and proposed drawing water from hydropower reservoirs in the Nilgiris for release through the Lower Bhavani system. They stated that more than 13 TMC was available in the LBP reservoir and argued that standing crops had reached a critical stage.
The request illustrates the operational complexity of irrigation management. Reservoir storage alone cannot determine a release decision. Authorities must consider drinking-water requirements, committed irrigation allocations, expected inflows, crop-water demand, evaporation and conveyance losses. Timing is especially important because the same quantity of water can produce very different outcomes depending on crop stage.
The case provides an opportunity for transparent irrigation accounting. The immediate measure is whether the requested release is approved and, if so, how much water reaches the tail end of the command. Long-term performance requires measuring actual delivery and crop outcomes across the distribution system, not only water released at the reservoir.
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