CHENNA: DMK general secretary S Durai Murugan on Thursday wondered how Prime Minister Narendra Modi let himself be “fooled” by accepting to inaugurate the Cauvery-Gundar river linking project that was inaugurated a decade ago by the then chief minister M Karunanidhi.
The project was inaugurated in 2009 and a barrage was constructed at a cost of Rs 165 crore as part of the project, said Durai Murugan.
“After cheating the people of Tamil Nadu for 10 years, the ruling party has now dared to cheat the PM himself,” the DMK leader said in a statement. He dubbed the state government’s arrangements for the February 14 inauguration as a “political fraud.”
He wondered how the PM let himself be fooled (over Cauvery-Gundar linking project). “The Edappadi K Palaniswami government is trying to hoodwink (the PM). But I really wonder how the PM is being hoodwinked?” Durai murugan said.
Durai Murugan said Thamirabarani-Karumeniyar, Cauvery-Gundar and Thenpennai-Cheyyar linking projects were the brainchildren of Karunanidhi.
As differences with neighbouring states had delayed the interstate river linking projects, Karunanidhi decided to link the rivers within the state. He also spoke about this in detail in the national development council meetings held in Delhi in 2008-2009 and sought financial assistance from the Centre for the same.
Following the Centre’s consent and a positive response from the Union ministry of water resources, Karunanidhi announced in the state assembly that the Thamirabarani- Karumeniyar linking project and the Cauvery-Gundar linking project would be taken up in the first phase. “The government had allocated Rs 165 crore to build a barrage at Mayanur as part of the Cauvery-Gundar project. It was completed,” said Durai Murugan who was the then PWD minister.