Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani must be held accountable for the severe water crisis in Tamil Nadu and should resign. The Tamil Nadu government should explain where the ₹15,838 crore allocated for water projects had gone, TNCC president K.S. Alagiri said on Wednesday.
Accusing the Tamil Nadu government of having failed to take measures beforehand to prevent the current situation, Mr. Alagiri said the government spent more than ₹15,000 crore on water schemes just in the last three years.
“Despite spending all this money, they have been unable to produce even a single drop of fresh water. What happened to all the money then? Was the money spent on increasing water sources? If so, why hasn’t the water situation improved?” the TNCC leader asked.
The TNCC president alleged that schemes for developing lakes using funds from the World Bank had fallen into the hands of contractors, and that the local communities, for whom the schemes were meant, were not being involved in the projects.
‘Wasting away’
He slammed the government for not developing new lakes or making efforts to conserve water. “In the last 10 years, no new irrigation scheme has been implemented by the AIADMK government. The amount of water that is being taken by us should be replenished by rains. That is water management. But during heavy rains, nearly 260 tmcft of water is going waste into the sea. From the Cauvery alone, 90-100 tmcft of water is going into the sea. What is the government’s plan to conserve this water and prevent it from going waste?” he asked.
Had the government implemented a few more projects like the Nemmeli and Minjur desalination plants, the water shortage could have been resolved, he said.