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Tamil Nadu Govt Accepts Kerala's Offer, To Get 20 Lakh Litres Of Water Daily
21 Jun 2019 5:17 PM GMT
Following the water scarcity condition in Tamil Nadu, the neighbouring state Kerala has offered to send 20 lakh litres of water. On June 21, Tamil Nadu Chief Edappadi K Palaniswami said that the government will write a letter to Kerala government asking them to supply 20 lakh litres of drinking water to Chennai daily.
The TN CM’s revelation cleared the controversy that was gripping the two states after reports of Tamil Nadu government refusing to accept the help provided by the neighbouring state emerged. The Kerala Chief Minister’s office on Facebook earlier wrote, ” Kerala is willing to assist Tamil Nadu in tackling the crisis caused by water scarcity. We could deliver 20 lakh litres of drinking water through the rail network. In response to our offer, we have been informed that at present Tamil Nadu has sufficient supply and doesn’t require additional assistance from Kerala.”
After the post, Tamil Nadu’s Municipal Administration and Water Supply Minister SP Velumani took to Twitter to clarify the issue. He said the reason the state government refused the help with drinking water is that it was a ‘one-time’ offer. The statement put by the minister read, “As the Chief Minister was away for a health check-up, his secretary consulted me and the secretary of the water supply department and expressed our heartfelt thanks to the government of Kerala.”
Palaniswami holding a press conference on Friday told reporters that the state government has decided to get water from the neighbouring state. He said the Kerala government has decided to provide the water for a day. He also thanked the sweet gesture by the Kerala Chief Minister but mentioned that 20 lakh litre per day of water is not enough for Chennai, as the city consumes 525 MLD (Million litre per day) of water per day.
He also suggested that people in the city will be happy if Kerala decides to provide 20 lakh litre per day of water on a daily basis. To provide some respite to people in Chennai, the CM said that the government will transport 10 MLD of drinking water daily from Jolarpet in Vellore district to Chennai for six months. The estimated cost for the transport is 65 crore.
Tamil Nadu state is currently facing its worst-ever drought. The sight of dead fish lying, reservoirs drying is ubiquitous in the state. Four major lakes in Chennai which supplies water – Chemabarambakkam, Red Hills, Cholavaram, and Poondi have almost dried up. As the state’s ground level water is constantly dropping, private water suppliers are making the most of the crisis as they are charging Rs 3,000 to 5,000 per truckload of water.
Paliniswami further mentioned the government has released water from Mettur Dam to fill Veeranam lake to meet Chennai’s need.
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