Stalin flays AIADMK govt for letting surplus water into sea

Alleging that over 2,500 water bodies in Cauvery Delta have not brimmed despite releasing 2 lakh cusecs of water from Mettur Stanley Reservoir daily, Stalin said the parched water bodies in the delta districts were testimony to the flawed water management of the AIADMK regime. 

Briefly recalling the water management works undertaken during the previous DMK regime, mainly the river inter-linking scheme and recent announcements made by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in the state Assembly for Kudimaramathu schemes, including works completed in 3,854 lakes, Stalin claimed that the Chief Minister had revived the Kudimaramathu scheme only after the DMK undertook desilting works.

Several hundred tmcft of water has drained to Bay of Bengal despite the AIADMK regime claiming to have spent Rs 4,735 crore on water management, the DMK working president wondered “Where did nearly Rs 5,000 crore of public fund vanish?” Stalin also sought to know how much money was swindled in storing surplus water draining into sea. 

Charging the AIADMK regime with shelving the river inter-linking project launched in the previous DMK regime due to political animosity, Stalin said the AIADMK regime, which announced a Centre-funded alternative to DMK’s river inter-linking project, has betrayed the state farmers by letting surplus water drain into the sea.

He also accused Palaniswami regime of stalling the implementation of Avinashi-Athikadavu project for the last seven years. Stalin said the ruling AIADMK has not made any constructive effort to implement the scheme with state funds. The state government has the duty to own up responsibility for the wasteful draining of precious water into sea and make efforts to fill the parched lakes using water released from Bhavani Sagar Dam for irrigation. Urging the Palaniswami regime to give effect to long-term water management scheme and the river inter-linking projects conceived in the previous DMK regime at least now.