Chennai, Jun 21 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu government plans to transport 10 million litres of water daily by rail from Jolarpettai in Vellore district to meet the water needs of parched Chennai.
Announcing this on Friday, Chief Minister K. Palaniswami said a sum of Rs 65 crore has been allocated for this purpose.
He also requested Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to extend cooperation to strengthen the Mullaperiyar Dam so as to increase the storage levels.
Currently the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Chennai Metro) is supplying about 525 million litres per day (MLD) in Chennai. The water from Jolarpettai will augment the existing supply.
Palaniswami also welcomed Vijayan's offer to supply water to Tamil Nadu.
Vijayan's office had on Thursday offered to supply two million litres of drinking water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu by train.
Palaniswami said if Kerala gives two MLD then it will be useful for the people of Tamil Nadu instead of one-time supply.
According to him, the state will write to Kerala regarding this aspect.
Palaniswami also said the Kerala government has created hurdles in Tamil Nadu's attempts to strengthen the Mullaperiyar Dam so that the water storage level could be increased to 152 feet from the current 142 feet.
He requested Vijayan to extend cooperation to Tamil Nadu to implement the Supreme Court judgement in the matter.
Though located in Kerala, the Mullaperiyar Dam is owned and operated by Tamil Nadu.
Palaniswami said water to people of Chennai is also supplied in various localities through water tankers.
While Cholavaram (full capacity 1,081 mcft) and Redhills (full capacity 3,300 mcft) reservoirs that supply water to Chennai have run dry, there is only 1 mcft of water left in Chembarambakkam lake (against a full capacity of 3,645 mcft) and 21 mcft water left in Poondi reservoir (against a full capacity of 3,231 mcft), according to the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.
Palaniswami also rejected as false news that two tankerloads of water are being supplied to the homes of ministers daily.
Earlier, at a meeting that he chaired in the Secretariat to take stock of the water situation in the state, Palaniswami ordered allocation of Rs 200 crore for drinking water schemes in Tamil Nadu. This is in addition to Rs 710 crore allocated earlier.