The prevailing water shortage in various parts of the State was the first issue raised by the Opposition parties in the Assembly on Monday. Responding to concerns raised by leaders of Opposition parties, including DMK leader M.K. Stalin, regarding this issue, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami insisted that the quantity of drinking water being supplied was the same as before.
Intervening when Congress Legislative Party leader K.R. Ramasamy (Karaikudi) was speaking on a special calling attention motion brought in by Opposition parties regarding this issue, Mr. Palaniswami alleged that people were increasingly using drinking water for other purposes, and this had caused a scarcity of water.
Accepting Mr. Stalin’s contention that storage was low in some reservoirs, the CM said the ruling AIADMK was supplying water even in these difficult times. Currently, 7,508 MLD (million litres per day) of water was being supplied, as against the 7,415 MLD supplied when Jayalalithaa was Chief Minister, he said, adding, “We are supplying [water] to all areas.” According to him, only 4,945 MLD of drinking water was supplied during the erstwhile DMK regime (2006-11). Due to monsoon failure, there was no water in reservoirs, and the groundwater table had gone down, he added.
In his reply to the special calling attention motion, Minister for Municipal Administration and Water Supply S.P. Velumani listed the efforts being made by the State government to address the water shortage. The State government was exploring the possibility of sourcing water from quarries at Puliyambakkam, Nallambakkam and Keerambakkam in Kancheepuram district and treating them for use at a cost of ₹125 crore. The plan was to provide 60 MLD of water to the State capital from these quarries, he said.
A plan to source 10 MLD of drinking water from Jolarpet by train at a cost of ₹65 crore to meet the water requirement for about six months was being implemented, and the task will be completed in two weeks. During the past year, a total of 1,08,532 drinking water connections had been provided, he said.
Citing a report by NITI Aayog, Mr. Stalin said: “The government was aware of the 65% deficit in rainfall. But it neither took note of the NITI Aayog [report] nor my speech warning about the situation.”
Referring to statements about huge allocations having been made towards drinking water schemes announced by the AIADMK government, he sought to know the status of the proposed desalination projects in Porur, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Villupuram and Cuddalore. Though he welcomed the plan to source water from Jolarpet by train and from other places by lorry, Mr. Stalin said they were interim measures and sought to know whether the government had any long-term plan.
Mr. Ramasamy alleged the government was not prepared to handle the situation. When he said his party colleagues were willing to be a part of any committee, if constituted, to visit Karnataka over the issue of Cauvery water, the CM asked him why his party members failed to question Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his promise to the Karnataka electorate that he will allow the construction of a dam at Mekedatu across the Cauvery if voted to power.