The Minister denied the allegations putforth by DMK who claim that lack of preparedness and poor water management by the ruling State government has led to the crisis.
Coimbatore: "Back in 2017, there was a huge water crisis across the State. We managed it through planned distribution. This year, the water crisis has struck again. The failure of summer showers and delay in onset of monsoon has resulted in severe water scarcity. We will manage this one too", said Minister S.P. Velumani after hearing the AIADMK district cadres advisory meeting at the party office here on Saturday.
The Minister denied the allegations putforth by DMK who claim that lack of preparedness and poor water management by the ruling State government has led to the crisis.
"The State government has signed projects worth Rs. 15,000 crores towards water management. A majority of the projects are ongoing at Chennai. In this state, the opposition party is trying to trigger panic among people by accusing that the rural and Muncipal administration department headed by me has failed to initiate measures to conserve water", the Minister said.
He also hinted that DMK Chief Stalin throws allegations one after the other on him and Minister Thangamani due to 'other' reasons. He also quipped that it's the allies of DMK who are supporting the Kerala and Karnataka governments in building dams across Tamil Nadu's water resources.
When questioned on the water crisis in Chennai, the Minister said "Around 9100 lorries are being assigned to distribute water in and around Chennai."
Clarifying on the news of hotels urging people not to visit Chennai due to water scarcity, the Minister said "We will be holding talks with the hotel associations in Chennai to discuss on the issue."
The Minister for Municipal and Rural administration also apprised that a special team has been formulated to take stock of the situation across all districts and plan water distribution accordingly.
When asked on the local body elections, he said "AIADMK is ready to face local body elections anytime."