CHENNAI: Local bodies and municipal administration minister S P Velumani on Thursday hit out at the opposition, charging it with blindly opposing all developmental projects in the state.
The issue was raised by Singanallur DMK MLA N Karthik who wanted to know why the government preferred a foreign company to provide water to Coimbatore, that too for 26 years.
As though the minister was waiting for an opportunity to clarify the government's position on the project, Velumani justified the government's stand to such lengths that ministers and opposition MLAs began to get restless.
Reacting to accusations levelled against privatization of water supply in Coimbatore, the minister said leader of the opposition M K Stalin was quoting a WhatsApp message from a man from Kundrathur, on the outskirts of Chennai, to oppose the project.
"What does a Chennaiite know about the ground reality in Coimbatore. The opposition leader has also taken the same message in his statement to criticize the decision to allot the project to a French company Suez Infra. Protests are also being staged against the government for other decisions like on the Chennai-Salem expressway and the
Sterlite closure," said Velumani.
Though Stalin was present in the assembly when the minister spoke, the leader of the opposition did not react to the minister's accusations.
The Rs 2,961 crore project aims to supply water round-the-clock to 60 wards in Coimbatore corporation. Granting the project for water supply, considered an essential service of government, to a private body has led to apprehensions, specifically about the tariff. Residents doubt that once privatised, the company would fix water tariffs at its will and treat water as a commodity rather than a basic amenity.
S P Velumani