AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Monday said Chennai would not have suffered inundation had the DMK regime completed storm-water drain projects initiated by the previous government headed by his party.
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Addressing the media after visiting rain-hit areas of Kolapakkam and Mugalivakkam, Mr. Palaniswami said the DMK government had cancelled tenders for a flood protection project to be implemented with KfW assistance of ₹1,300 crore. He said his government had obtained aid from the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for alleviating the problem of flooding.
Accusing the ruling party of using the media to portray it as a government executing new projects, he claimed that the DMK government was now implementing the KfW assistance programme by renaming it as Singara Chennai 2.0.
Justifying his demand for a compensation of ₹30,000 per acre for farmers hit by the recent rain, the AIADMK leader recalled that when his party was in power, paddy-raising farmers were given a compensation of ₹20,000 per acre and those who raised crops in rainfed areas, ₹10,000 per acre. Last year, farmers in Thanjavur district got a compensation of ₹250 per acre even though they had paid a premium of ₹300 per acre. Besides, most parts of the district were left out at the time of payment of compensation, he claimed.