Chennai water crisis: DMK stages protests as govt ramps up efforts to help parched state

Tamil Nadu's main opposition party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), is staging protests across the state Saturday against the acute water crisis. The party's cadre held protests in Dindigul, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuramnto urge the government to take action to address the issue. Tamil Nadu is plagued with a severe water crisis.

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The DMK claimed the issue reached the point of a crisis due to the AIADMK government's "negligence" and "administrative failure", reported news agency PTI. Chennai has been affected the worst as the four reservoirs around the city, which supply drinking water, have dried up.

Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami Friday held an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation. Addressing the press, Palaniswami said the government had allocated Rs 65 crore to transfer by rail water from Jolarpettai near Vellore to Chennai. For the next six months, the government will use rail wagons to bring in 10 MLD (millions of litre per day) of water from Jolarpettai, he said.

Apart from this, Palaniswami said senior officers were monitoring the situation and coordinating water supply. "Wherever there is a shortage, we have a coordinated system to ensure supply now," the Chief Minister said.

He added that in rural areas, water was being supplied from Andhra Pradesh's Krisha river. While about 11 TMC water was supposed to have come, TN was receiving only 2 TMC water.

with inputs of The Indian Express