Government lax on water issues: Stalin

Talking to media persons after inspecting the ongoing check dam construction across River Palar by Andhra Pradesh government at Kankguthi near Vellore, Stalin said that the state government has the responsibility to constitute a high-level river water protection committee comprising senior IAS officers to constantly supervise the inter-state river water disputes and take necessary preventive actions. 

Alleging that AP was constructing check dams and jeopardizing the livelihood of Tamil Nadu farmers owing to the slackness and inefficiency of the ruling AIADMK, the DMK working president said the ruling dispensation was busy engaged in horse-trading to ensure the sustenance of the government. 

The Leader of Opposition also claimed that several farmers in Tamil Nadu were affected by disruption in flow of water from Palar and Kosasthalaiyaar in Vellore, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts by the check dams constructed by Andhra government. 

Claiming that governments in other states were taking unanimous decisions after consulting all parties on issues involving inter-state water disputes, Stalin said that during the DMK regime the then chief minister M Karunanidhi had consulted all parties, personally visited and deputed concerned ministers to neighbouring states to resolve the inter-state water disputes amicably. 

However, the ruling AIADMK has not consulted other parties on such important issues. Describing as ‘unfortunate’ the alleged inaction of the ruling AIADMK on the issue involving construction of check dams across Palar River, Stalin sought Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy’s immediate intervention in this matter.  

Stating that though Andhra Pradesh claims that they have been only constructing a causeway, Tamil Nadu farmers fear that it could be converted into a check dam in future. Stalin also urged AP CM N Chandrababu Naidu to immediately take necessary action on the issue.

If everything goes well, DMK could go online in a big way in a few months. Grapevine has it that DMK leadership has given the sanction to its newly appointed IT wing secretary and Madurai (Central) MLA PTR Thiyagarajan to use all resources at his disposal, even if it means setting up a new PR firm, to reach out to the netizens.

It has been reliably learnt that Thiyagarajan has been considering setting up a new PR firm, which is still in the stage of infancy. Should he do so, the DMK, which already has a PR firm working exclusively for its working president M K Stalin, would join parties having in-house PR firms to popularise their political ideology. 

Notably, the principal opposition party would not be the first in Tamil Nadu to do so, given that its arch-rival AIADMK has a PR firm functioning for over a year now.  When asked, Thiyagarajan confirmed the revamp of the IT cell and said, “Indeed, we must deliver some results immediately, but it is a long-term project. Also, it is not merely about social media. We want to develop infrastructure to take the party and its ideology online in a very big way.” 

The project would require two sets of work force, technical people and the ones networked with the party. Thiyagarajan told DTNext, that it would at least take two more months before functionaries  got appointed for the IT cell. High on his agenda would also be revamping of the DMK official website, which was last updated in 2013.