Rain halts Stalin’s Namakku Naame parade

Stating that a fresh tour date would be announced later, Stalin attributed the decision to heavy rain and flooding in the city, and once again asked his party cadre to fully engage themselves in helping the flood affected people. 

Stating that the tour would be undertaken to unseat a failed AIADMK regime later, Stalin said that they were led to believe that there was no point in banking on the ruling dispensation which he squarely held responsible for the inundated roads that have caused hardship to people. 

The Opposition leader, who discussed flood mitigation with officials of departments in his Kolathur constituency earlier in the day, said that no part of the city would have been flooded had the government desilted the 49 km-long channel from Ennore to Muttukadu. Alleging that Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami was not bothered about desilting the channel, maintained by the Public Works Department, whose portfolio he holds, Stalin exhorted the officials to ensure that pumping stations do not fail this monsoon season, as they did during the torrential downpour in December 2015 and when Cyclone Vardah hit the city.