Chennai: Days after Tamilnadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami the issue of water crisis was not as big as was being made out by the opposition parties and the media, fisheries Minister D Jayakumar yesterday slammed those politicising the issue.
He said government has been making up for the deficit created by successive failed monsoons in the State and would be able to manage the situation until the northeast monsoon.
Speaking to reporters, Jayakumar said, “Despite failed monsoons, one should see how the government is handling the issue. Politicising it is not at all acceptable.”
He also listed out various efforts taken by the Palaniswamy government in tackling the problem. Around 400 water tankers were making 9,000 trips distributing water across Chennai. Also one tmc of water was being pumped from Mettur to Veeranam lake, he informed.
He also expressed confidence that the problem would be solved after the arrival of the north east monsoon. According to reports, groundwater levels have gown down and the four major lakes of Chembarambakkam, Poondi, Red Hills and Cholavaram have dried up. This is the result of deficit rainfall during the 2017 northeast monsoon and failed monsoon in 2018.