The Kerala government on Thursday reached out to the neighbouring State of Tamil Nadu with an offer to provide drinking water to the areas reeling under a dry spell.
The Chief Minister’s Office in Thiruvananthapuram said the government had expressed willingness to transport 20 lakh litres of water by train to the parched areas in Tamil Nadu. “But the offer was turned down by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Office. We received a reply that it was not needed now”, a press note issued by the CMO said.
Kerala had made the offer in the light of the reports about large parts of Tamil Nadu facing acute water scarcity following the absence of rain for a prolonged period. Most of the reservoirs supplying water to Chennai are reported to be running dry and the agriculture sector has been seriously affected.
Though the late arrival and stuttering start of the South West monsoon have robbed Kerala of its normal rainfall quota during the period, the storage position in the State’s reservoirs is much better than in Tamil Nadu.