The Mettur Reservoir will open on the scheduled date of June 12 for kuruvai cultivation in the delta districts. With the storage in the reservoir at 64.931 thousand million cubic (tmc) feet, the State will have no problem in opening the dam for irrigation. The current storage is sufficient to meet the irrigation demand for one-and-a-half months. To start with, about 5000 cusecs will be released which will gradually be increased to 15,000 cusecs over a fortnight. Last year, the dam was opened on July 18 as the storage was not comfortable. The government will make an announcement soon in this regard, according to officials here. However, farmers' association wants the announcement to be made well in advance so that they can prepare their land for cultivation. Meanwhile, there are demands from farmers in Mayiladuthurai division for opening the reservoir well before June12. Arupathy Kalyanam, general secretary of the Federation of Farmers Association, said there were precedents that the dam was opened before June 12. By opening the reservoir before June 12, kuruvai cultivation could be advanced by 15 days. This would save the crops from any possible damage due to rains during the north east monsoon. Moreover, the meteorological department officials had predicted normal south west monsoon. However, according to officials, farmers who had begun kuruvai cultivation using bore-well water were demanding early opening of the reservoir. As the groundwater level had been depleting they wanted early release so that they could switchover to river water for irrigation. Another section of farmers wanted the postponement of the opening by a few weeks. They said the government should study the behaviour of the south west monsoon before opening the dam.