Safe water provided despite drought: Government.
CHENNAI: DESPITE severe drought conditions, the government has managed to ensure supply of safe drinking water to more than 99 per cent of the people in the State by taking various measures on a war footing, the Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani told the State Assembly on Friday.
Responding to the issue raised by members of all parties, the minister said `1,077.10 crores was earmarked for completing 31,747 works which included sinking new borewells and cleaning and deepening the existing ones, increasing the horsepower of motors, replacing the damaged motors and supplying drinking water through lorries etc.
Of these, so far works for 27,233 had been completed.
Giving separate details about the steps taken for mitigating the water scarcity in Chennai Corporation area, urban local bodies and rural local bodies, the minister said that within Chennai Corporation limits, 470 million litres of drinking water had been supplied through various methods including lorries.
From July 15 onward, water from Porur lake would be supplied to the residents of Chennai.
In Chennai alone, 4,090 works had been taken up for `105 crores, he said.
The minister said that after the southwest monsoon, the water supply in Coimbatore and surrounding areas as well as in Kanniyakumari district had gone up.
Raising the issue, the DMK MLA and former Chennai Mayor M Subramanian alleged that the claims made by the Government and mere announcements won’t deliver goods to the people.
The Congress floor leader K R Ramaswamy also spoke on the issue.