BJP Blames DMK Government for Water Shortage

Chennai: Placing the blame for the entire set of water woes in the State on the DMK government, BJP State president K Annamalai urged the government to act now, during the summer months, to desilt dams, drainage systems and other water bodies, beside removing encroachments, and not to enact dramas after floods cause devastations during the monsoon season.

In a statement on Friday, Annamalai accused the State government of only being concerned about advertising itself without bothering to lay even a single brick to build the 1000 check dams that it had promised to construct when it came to power.

Since the check dams had not come up, rain water was not being saved, leading to water shortage during the summer months, he said, adding that when there was a flood in River Cauvery in 2022, over 600 TMC feet of water went to waste by flowing into the sea.

He also alleged that the DMK government had not taken efforts to get the State’s due share of Cauvery water from Karnataka and pointed out that the neighboring State released only 78.76 TMC feet water in 2023-24 when it should have given 177 TMC feet.

Referring to the Shenbagavalli dam renovation plans and the implementation of the Aanaimalai Nalluru scheme, Annamalai said the DMK government had done nothing about it, besides allowing encroachments of lakes and ponds.