Paddy cultivators in Trincomalee, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa has been left in the lurch owing to sudden decline of water levels in reservoirs, JVP MP S. K. Subasinghe said yesterday. He said that the ill-effects of the economic crisis were not felt drastically, thanks to the strong contribution made by the agriculture sector. "If agriculture fails we would end up in a big crisis." MP Subasinghe said that the farmers in the Mahaweli sector have already been hit by this problem. The cultivators of the North Central Province too have complained of the lack of water. He said the irrigation authorities had not taken steps to fill the reservoirs and tanks to the fullest capacity during the rains and they had released a large volume of water during last Maha season from the Mahaweli reservoirs. "These short-sighted acts have left us in the current crisis," he said. They might have released water under the impression that the reservoirs could be refilled when the monsoon rains arrived in December. However, the December monsoon rains were not sufficient to fill them to the fullest capacity, he said.