AIADMK on the front foot with implementation of water project
Rajasekaran RK | TNN | Feb 28, 2019, 04:40 ISTTirupur: Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will lay a foundation stone for the Rs 1,652-crore Athikadavu-Avinashi drinking water scheme at Avinashi in the district on Thursday. With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, it is believed that the realization of the six-decade-old demand will help the ruling party to score political points in the region.
S Gunasekaran, AIADMK MLA from Tirupur south, said, “Since the demand for the scheme rose, Tamil Nadu has seen many chief ministers. But chief minister Palaniswami has proved his mettle by implementing the scheme. Under the late former chief minisiter J Jayalalithaa, the government took the first step by preparing a detailed project report. Inaugurating the project now will help the party.”
The Athikadavu-Avinashi drinking water supply and irrigation scheme will cover six drought-prone taluks in Coimbatore, Tirupur and Erode districts. It will serve more than 40 lakh people especially farmers in the region.
Members of federation of struggle committees, which were rooting for the project, are jubilant and hailed the government for finally implementing it. “Credit should be given to this government for the project, which of course could never have been come to the implementation stage without continuous protests and contribution of the people,” D Prabu, the convener of the federation, said.
M Velusamy, 63, a key member of the struggle committee, said, “We hail this government for taking steps for implementing the project. But we insist that it should ensure the project will be completed within 34 months as scheduled. Our stand is that once the project is commissioned, we will openly support the party which implemented it.”
“Anyway, the Avinashi assembly constituency is a bastion of the AIADMK. Since 1977, expect the 1996 elections, the AIADMK or its allies have won the seat,” Velusamy, whose father was a former Congress MLA from Avinashi, said. "Earlier, since both the DMK and the AIADMK were not ready to consider our demand, farmers fielded candidates in the Avinashi constituency in 2001 and 2006 assembly elections. Our candidate secured more than 39,000 votes in 2001 and came second by pushing the DMK candidate to third position,” Velusamy added.
Besides, the chief minister will attend a function in Tirupur city, where he will lay foundation stones for slew of the corporation projects worth Rs 1,875 crore under the Amrut and Smart City schemes. The projects include the fourth water scheme and the extension of underground drainage scheme.
S Gunasekaran, AIADMK MLA from Tirupur south, said, “Since the demand for the scheme rose, Tamil Nadu has seen many chief ministers. But chief minister Palaniswami has proved his mettle by implementing the scheme. Under the late former chief minisiter J Jayalalithaa, the government took the first step by preparing a detailed project report. Inaugurating the project now will help the party.”
The Athikadavu-Avinashi drinking water supply and irrigation scheme will cover six drought-prone taluks in Coimbatore, Tirupur and Erode districts. It will serve more than 40 lakh people especially farmers in the region.
Members of federation of struggle committees, which were rooting for the project, are jubilant and hailed the government for finally implementing it. “Credit should be given to this government for the project, which of course could never have been come to the implementation stage without continuous protests and contribution of the people,” D Prabu, the convener of the federation, said.
M Velusamy, 63, a key member of the struggle committee, said, “We hail this government for taking steps for implementing the project. But we insist that it should ensure the project will be completed within 34 months as scheduled. Our stand is that once the project is commissioned, we will openly support the party which implemented it.”
“Anyway, the Avinashi assembly constituency is a bastion of the AIADMK. Since 1977, expect the 1996 elections, the AIADMK or its allies have won the seat,” Velusamy, whose father was a former Congress MLA from Avinashi, said. "Earlier, since both the DMK and the AIADMK were not ready to consider our demand, farmers fielded candidates in the Avinashi constituency in 2001 and 2006 assembly elections. Our candidate secured more than 39,000 votes in 2001 and came second by pushing the DMK candidate to third position,” Velusamy added.
Besides, the chief minister will attend a function in Tirupur city, where he will lay foundation stones for slew of the corporation projects worth Rs 1,875 crore under the Amrut and Smart City schemes. The projects include the fourth water scheme and the extension of underground drainage scheme.
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