Tamil Nadu unveils Jayalalithaa mineral water for the Chennai poor

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday unveiled a mineral water scheme for Chennaiites. People can now avail 20 litres of mineral water for a family through 100 identified reverse osmosis plants in greater Chennai area.

The families will be given a smart card to avail of the free drinking water service in a hassle free manner, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said in a statement on Saturday after launching the ‘Amma Drinking Water Scheme’.

Pointing out that her government has executed various integrated drinking water schemes costing Rs 7,324.34 crore, over the last five years, she said as many as 69 new projects at a total cost of Rs 6,602.78 crore were underway and on their completion quality drinking water would be assured. Besides, Chennai the projects will also cover 69 rural pockets and 30 town panchayats.

As a first step, drinking water dispensing units based on reverse osmosis technology are being established in Chennai and they would each produce 2,000 litres of mineral water per hour. Based on the success of the scheme, the project would be expanded, the statement said.

The Amma drinking water treated through RO technology will be subjected to all laboratory tests and only after clearance will water be distributed. The objective of the project is to ensure that the poor and the common man also have access to purified mineral water, Jayalalithaa emphasised.

The AIADMK government had launched several schemes under the Amma brand, including the low cost ‘Amma Unavagam’ eateries, Amma Pharmacy  ‘Amma Salt’ and Amma Cement.