TN to strongly fight for release of 14,000 cusecs of Cauvery water
Chennai (PTI): The Tamil Nadu government will strongly fight for the release of 14,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water by Karnataka to the state, Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan said on Friday amidst the travails of farmers in the delta districts in saving standing paddy crops.
Farmers dependent only on the water from the Mettur dam have taken up Kuruvai crop (short-term) cultivation in the delta districts and in certain pockets in Thanjavur district, anticipating steady discharge of Cauvery water from neighbouring Karnataka have taken up the Samba (long-duration) paddy crop.
However, their hopes of realising a good yield appears bleak owing to the water level in the Mettur reservoir nearing dead storage.
Besides agriculture, water from the dam caters to the drinking water requirement in the districts.
Tamil Nadu will present its case at Friday's meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and strongly contend for the release of 14,000 cusecs of water to save the standing crops in the delta districts, Duraimurugan told reporters here.
On Wednesday the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu from October 16 to 31, he said.
To a question, the Minister ruled out the scope of releasing water from Mettur dam. "There is hardly 10 TMC water in the reservoir. So, we can't release water. Though the catchment areas are receiving rain we have to wait and see if the situation would improve," he added.
The sudden rain in the catchment areas of Thoppaiyaru and Palar triggered a meager rise in the Mettur dam water level. Though the inflows increased to 18,974 cusecs on Thursday evening from 2,528 cusecs on the previous day, the inflows however, decreased to about 12,606 cusecs today, a Public Works Department official said.
According to the secretary of Federation of Tamil Nadu All Farmers Association C Nallasamy, the water level in the dam decreased to 32 feet for the first time in the last seven years due to the failure of the southwest monsoon.
He claimed that if the current situation continued there would be a crisis not only for agriculture but also drinking water in the districts dependent on Cauvery.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
