Inaugurating the Rs 565 crore Mettur surplus water scheme in Salem, the Chief Minister said that the AIADMK government has been giving utmost priority to fulfill the needs of farmers.

Claiming to have waived farm loans twice during this term, the Chief Minister said that about 16.44 lakh farmers would benefit due to waiver of Rs 12,110 crore farm loans in co-operative banks.

“Former chief minister Jayalalithaa waived off farm loans on assuming charge after 2016 polls. Ours is the only government to have waived farm loans twice within five years,” he said.

Stating that other political parties have only listed out their promises in the election manifesto, Palaniswami claimed that theirs is the only government to have accomplished the demands of farmers even before polls.

The Chief Minister also took credit for settling the Cauvery River row and for declaring the Delta region as a protected agriculture zone. “Due to desilting works undertaken by the government, water has reached the tail end area of the Delta region resulting in an increase in paddy production and achieved about 32.41 lakh metric tonne of procurement,” he said.

Pointing out that it has been a long time demand of farmers to fill up 100 dry lakes with excess water from Mettur dam that drains waste into the sea during floods, the Chief Minister said that the project, which has been executed within a short duration, will benefit 38 villages.

“Only 0.5 tmc of water is needed to fill water in all the lakes and 214 cusecs of water would be lifted for 30 days,” he said. The Chief Minister also said that concrete houses will be built for farmers and labourers once AIADMK comes to power.