Chennai

“To fulfil the long term demand of the people of Salem district, the state government announced to fill 100 lakes in the district from Mettur dam surplus water scheme and the preliminary works have commenced. But, the benefits of the scheme can be expanded to not just Salem district but also to Namakkal and Tiruchy districts,” said Ramadoss,in a statement.

The PMK founder also said that Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, while addressing reporters said that the water from Mettur dam will fill 100 lakes in Salem district at the cost of Rs 565 crore and if water is filled people of Mettur, Sangagiri, Edappadi and Omalur will be benefitted, but the scheme was intended for a larger benefit.

“Thirumanimutharu and Sarabanga rivers which also add water to Mettur dam surplus water scheme will actually fill water bodies and lakes in Salem, Namakkal and Tiruchy district. Nearly, 30,154 acres will be benefitted directly and 18,228 acres of farmlands will be benefitted indirectly,” said Ramadoss.

He further said that if Vadavellaru river is merged with the scheme, even Villupuram and Cuddalore districts would be benefitted.

The PMK for long had been demanding the state government to implement the scheme and various protests were conducted since 2008. PMK president GK Mani spoke about the scheme in the Assembly and late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, assured to look into the demands.

However, the announcement of Palaniswami is just a shrunken version of the original scheme and even in the present scheme many of the important water bodies in Salem and Omalur were not included, said the PMK.

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