Present water crisis in Chennai because of DMK: BJP

Chennai: The AIADMK, which has come under fire from the opposition parties on handling the situation arising out of acute water crisis, appears to find support from ally BJP. The saffron party seems to provide the ammo by taking on the DMK faulting it’s ‘flawed’ water management policy and for ‘lacking vision’ to conserve the water bodies.

Recalling DMK president M. K. Stalin’s assurances in 2009, as then Deputy Chief Minister, on reviving the highly polluted Cooum river in the city in another 10 years, besides replicating the Singapore model of restoration, BJP State president Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan sought to know the DMK’s contribution to tackling the water woes of Chennai. “From allegations on the Veeranam scheme, to the disappearance of lakes around Chennai, sand mining, all happened during the DMK rule. What was the contribution of DMK, which ruled the State for years, to resolve drinking water crisis of Chennai” she asked in a tweet.

In another tweet, the BJP president said, “neither the DMK nor its allies have a right to talk about the water crisis in parched TN. DMK and Congress are capitalising the situation to satiate their thirst for political power.”

Her colleague and party’s national secretary H. Raja, slammed the DMK saying it had lacked a vision to conserve the water bodies. “The DMK is responsible for the acute water crisis gripping the State, particularly its capital, due to its flawed water management policy,” he said. Speaking to reporters in neighbouring Villupuram on Monday, he said that party had grossly neglected the potential water bodies, when it ruled the State.

“The Valluvar Kottam (a familiar landmark in the city) was built on a lake. If all the lakes are converted into structures, then there will be no means to conserve water. It did not have a policy to maintain water bodies,” he alleged.