In a bid to address the severe water shortage in Chennai, the Tamil Nadu government has sanctioned funds to the tune of ₹65 crore for transporting 10 MLD (million litres per day) drinking water from Jolarpettai to Chennai for six months. It thanked the Kerala government for its offer of 2 million litres of water and pointed out that it it would not be enough. It, however, would request the neighbouring State to give 2 MLD to Chennai.
In an interaction with reporters at the Secretariat in Chennai on Friday, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said: “I thank the Kerala government for making the offer. However, 2 million litres is not sufficient. Our requirement is 525 MLD. If 2 MLD is provided, it would be useful.”
When asked about the source of water in Jolarpettai, he said the government had plans and work was on.
Four reservoirs dry
The Chief Minister said there was “not a single drop of water” in the four reservoirs — Sholavaram, Chembarambakkam, Poondi and Red Hills — that have been the drinking water source for Chennai. They had dried up because of deficit rainfall. Efforts were on to source water from quarries around Chennai to quench its thirst.
Against the due share of 12 tmc of water from the Krishna river, only 2 tmc was supplied to Tamil Nadu by Andhra Pradesh. Owing to shortage in Kandaleru, water could not be released from there.
Replying to a query on claims that Ministers were being supplied with two lorries of water daily, Mr. Palaniswami rejected them. He said he himself was using only two buckets of water and drank two litres of water a day. There were many visitors to the residences of Chief Minister and other Ministers, he pointed out.
Mr. Palaniswami said the Kerala government was obstructing the State’s efforts to increase the height of the Mullaperiyar dam and further requested his counterpart in Kerala to extend cooperation.
He said about 9,800 lorry trips were being made to supply drinking water in Chennai. Detailing the issues faced in water supply, he said he was flooded with requests from apartment owners for water when the entire city was reeling under water scarcity. “The government should take care of the poor people too,” he noted.
Mr. Palaniswami said people should use water judiciously. He rejected reports of water shortage in schools and hostels. Sufficient quantities of water were being supplied to them, he asserted.
A meeting of lorry owners would soon be held to hear out their issues. “There are limited lorries and practical difficulties while distributing water to people,” he said.
