Implementation of Hogenakkal Drinking Water and Fluorosis Mitigation Scheme is on at a fairly good pace, and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government, which took up the project, is fully satisfied with the progress of the work from Phase I to Phase V, Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said at Harur in Dharmapuri on Tuesday.
After inaugurating the Rs.203-crore Phase III and Phase V works of the project, Mr. Stalin told reporters that the work orders were issued on October 22 this year, and pointed to the speed with which various components of the project were being taken up for execution.
Phase III of the project envisaged water supply from the scheme to Harur, Kadathur, Kambainallur, Pappireddypatti and some other town panchayats under Harur, Morappur and Pappireddypatti Panchayat Unions.
Mr. Stalin also inaugurated the construction of an overhead tank and a sump under the project. Phase I of the project would be over by April 2012. Fifteen per cent of the construction work for Phase I was completed. Work on Phase II would be over by 2012, Phase IV by September 2012. The entire scheme would be completed, as intended, by December 2012.
When asked about the criticism by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam that the project had not progressed, Mr. Stalin said he could prove that the work was on at the desired pace and the leader of the AIADMK (Jayalalithaa) could inspect the implementation.
Later, the Deputy Chief Minister laid the foundation for 28 works that would be carried out at Rs.17 crore.
He inaugurated 1,870 development works at Rs.40.46 crore and also gave away welfare assistance to 9,903 persons at Rs.36.79-crore at a function at Government Boys Higher Secondary School here.
Declaring open a samathuvapuram in Sundangipatti village, Mr. Stalin said the samathuvapuram scheme initiated by the DMK government during its rule between 1996 and 2001 was kept in abeyance by the AIADMK government (2001-2006). He said the least the AIADMK government could have done was maintain the 145 samathuvapurams established by the DMK government. Hence, the DMK government, which came to power in 2006, allocated Rs.16.80 crore for the maintenance of the samathuvapurams.
Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi announced another 95 samathuvapurams and the government had already established 29 during 2008-09. Of the 30 projects taken up in 2009-10, 14 had been opened already and the one inaugurated on Tuesday at Sundangipatti was the 15{+t}{+h}.
The rest of the samathuvapurams would opened before February 15, 2011. Another 36 will be established during the financial year 2011-12.
Mr. Stalin said that so far he had distributed revolving funds to 1,78,437 Self Help Groups in the last four-and-a-half years.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA P. Dillibabu called upon the government to extend the Kalaignar Veetu Vasathi Thittam to hilly areas and tribal villages.
