TN water management poor: Vasan

Despite bountiful rain received in Tamil Nadu, drought situation was prevailing in some pockets. The government authorities should devise strategies and adopt suitable methods to conserve water. Such methods would be of more use for districts, including Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram to overcome the drought, he added.

He further said that due to inefficiency and lethargic attitude of the PWD authorities, water was not taken to the tail-end areas in the Delta region. The livelihoods of farmers were affected as thousands of acres of cultivable lands did not get access to water.

Vasan said though the Mettur dam reached its full capacity twice within a period of 15 days, it was unfortunate that water did not reach many pockets. Apart from agriculture purpose, better management practices were also required for drinking water purpose, he noted.

On Gutkha scam, he said though raids were conducted in residences of Ministers, officials and industrialists, the investigating agencies should bring out the truth ultimately as expected by the people. If such raids continued without any outcome, credibility of both the Centre and investigating agencies would be lost, he said.

On Vijay Mallya claiming a meeting with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Vasan said that the doubt appears valid against the backdrop of this meeting. “However, time will tell the truth,” he added. Earlier, he attended a funeral of his party cadre in Thoothukudi.