Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly and Dravida Munnetra Kaghazam(DMK) Working president M.K. Stalin on Sunday morning made a surprise visit to the Palar River high level road bridge work site near Kangundi, 20 km from Kuppam and observed that Tamil Nadu also had rights on the sharing of river waters.
Mr. Stalin along with senior functionaries of DMK and supporters from Ranipet, Vaniambadi and several border villages visited the site, reportedly just gave an hour's notice of his visit to the Kuppam Police.
He is believed to have rushed to the spot reacting to the reports in a section of vernacular media in Tamil Nadu that the AP government was constructing a dam on Palar river thus endangering the interests of Tamil Nadu.
At about 8.30 a.m., there was a flutter along the border villages that Mr. Stalin was coming to Palar bridge site. Kuppam Police contacted their counterparts in Vellore, Ranipet and Vaniambadi about the visit but were informed that they had no knowledge about it. Around 9.30 am, the Kuppam Police received communication that the DMK leader and his convoy was on its to Kuppam and he would be reaching the Palar bridge in an hour. The Kuppam Police along with the Armed Police rushed to the bridge site.
Reaching the bridge site along with his party cadres, Mr. Stalin told the media that the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh should take steps to facilitate the Tamil Nadu people to have their due share on Palar river waters. The local police informed Mr. Stalin that there was no move to construct any dam or check dam on the river. He was informed that the R&D department was only executing a high level road bridge on the river to improve the rural road network. The project was taken at a cost of ₹. 4.25 crore.
After making a brief 10 minute visit, Mr. Stalin and his entourage consisting of a dozen SUVs and about 50 motorcycles left towards Chennai via Natrampalli road. The police heaved a sigh of relief with the DMK leader's visit passing off peacefully. A huge contingent of Tamil Nadu media also accompanied the DMK entourage.
Mr. Stalin's visit to Kuppam area assumed significance following Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Palaniswami’s recent letter addressed to AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu seeking the latter's intervention in stopping of check dams allegedly coming up across the border.