The main opposition party in Tamil Nadu, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) today staged a day-long protest across the state against the acute water crisis in Chennai. The protests were held in Salem, Erode, Dindigul, Thoothukudi, Ramanathapuram and Tiruppur. The DMK urged the AIADMK-led state government to take measures to reduce the crisis.
The DMK claimed that the water shortage was a result of negligence and administrative failure by the AIADMK government. Chennai is the worst affected. The four reservoirs which supply drinking water in the city have dried up.
On Friday, Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami held an emergency meeting and took stock of the situation. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, the chief minister said that the government allocated Rs 65 crore to transfer water from Jolarpettai to Chennai by rail. He further said that for the next six months, the state government will use rail wagons to bring in 10 million liters of water daily from Jolarpettai to the state capital.
Palaniswami further added that the senior officials of his government were constantly monitoring the situation. “Wherever there is a shortage, there is a coordinated system for supply now,” the CM added.
The AIADMK members including minister Sellur K Raju and Madurai North MLA VV Rajan Chellappa perform puja in Meenakshi Temple for rain. Tamil Nadu has been reeling under water crisis in recent time.
In the meantime, the Kerala government offered to send 2MLD water to Chennai from Thiruvananthapuram in rail wagons. Thanking Pinarayi Vijayan government for the gesture, Palaniswami said the supply of water one time will not be enough. “We are already supplying 525 MLD a day in Chennai in this crisis scenario. We will request the Kerala government to see the possibility of sending 2 MLD water every day, not one time,” he added as per Indian Express.
