DMK working president M.K. Stalin who visited the flood-hit Varadarajapuram area near Tambaram on Tuesday, demanded a White Paper on the desilting activities.
Addressing media persons after the visit, he said that the people have requested the government to desilt lakes and strengthen the bunds. “The State government should first effectively spend the funds in hand and then ask for additional funds from the Centre,” he added.
“This government banks on announcements only and the Chief Minister announced that ₹450 crore has been allocated for desilting and rejuvenation of water bodies. We have been seeking a White Paper on the amount spent on rejuvenation each water body in the State, which is not being heeded by them,” Mr. Stalin said.
Mr. Stalin also visited the Government School in Perungalathur where the residents from Annai Anjuham Nagar and Samathuva Periyar Nagar were sheltered by the State government after the rains.
He distributed flood relief materials to those staying in the school and also interacted with the residents of Varadarajapuram on their plight during rains in 2015 and now.
He was accompanied by DMK district president and Alandur MLA T.M. Anbarasan, MLAs S.R. Raja and E. Karunanidhi and former Perungalathur Town Panchayat president S. Sekar.
Funds not utilised: DMDK
DMDK founder and general secretary Vijayakanth visited the rain-hit areas in Narayanapuram.
Going around some of the flood-affected areas in the southern suburbs of Chennai, he asked his party cadre to work for the relief and rehabilitation of the people affected. He charged the AIADMK for failure on different fronts of governance, and said funds allocated for key projects were not utilised properly. On a question about Kamal Haasan's entry into politics, he said: “I welcome him if he starts a political party. Let him start his party, then decide on alliance and other things later.”