Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edpaddi K Palaniswami was addressing a press conference in Chennai. (PTI Photo/File)After chairing an emergency meeting on the water crisis in Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami Friday said the government is taking steps to provide water through desalination plants, groundwater and what’s available in the quarries. He added that 10 million litres of water will be brought in from Jolarpettai through the rail network.
Palaniswami blamed the delayed monsoons for the acute water crisis in the state. He added that due to the recent elections, the government was unable to act on the situation. “Once it was done, we immediately took action and allocated money for the water crisis,” the CM said. The government has sanctioned Rs. 158.42 crore to tackle the situation.
“Even though the four reservoirs around Chennai (Poondi, Chembarambakkam, Sholavaram and Red Hills) that provide drinking water have dried up, we are providing water for the people,” Palaniswami said. “We are supposed to get 12 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water from the river Krishna, but we are only getting 2 TMC,” Palaniswami said at a press conference.
Following Kerala’s offer to provide water to the state, Palaniswami said, “I thank the Kerala Chief Minister, but 2 MLD water will not be sufficient. We are supplying 525 MLD water (in Chennai) and if 2 MLD water could be given every day, it will be useful for the people,” he said, adding that he has written to the CM Pinarayi Vijayan regarding the situation.
