In the middle of an ongoing extreme water crisis in Tamil Nadu, the state government said ‘Yes’ to Kerala’s offer of 20 lakh litres drinking water.
The significant decision was taken in a recent review meeting led by the Tamil Nadu chief minister on Friday.
After rounds of discussion regarding the importance of water, Chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said that they have made up their mind to accept water from the neighbouring state Kerala.
“We have decided to accept water from Kerala and we are thankful to CM Pinarayi Vijayan. It will be great if they can give us 2mld (million litre per day) every day,” chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said.
K Palaniswami added that he will write to Pinarayi Vijayan as he could not do the same earlier owing to poor health.
Previously, there were several reports that the Tamil Nadu government had rejected the offer saying there was “no need for the help at present.”
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had also requested the Kerala government to sincerely cooperate to store water in the Mullaperiyar dam. The Kerala government, however, has made different excuses for the dam.
“I request the Kerala government to look into this. Every drop of water is important for Tamil Nadu. There is a massive crisis here,” he said.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s office had previously said it had contacted the Tamil Nadu CMO on the request, but Tamil Nadu had notified that “at present, there is no need for the help”.
Kerala was ready to transport 20 lakh litres of drinking water from Thiruvananthapuram to Chennai via train, the release added.
Opposition leader MK Stalin Vijayan for his “timely offer.” “I wholeheartedly thank chief minister of Kerala @vijayanpinarayi for his timely offer to provide water to Tamil Nadu,” he said in a tweet.
“Urge government of Tamil Nadu to work with Govt of Kerala to help citizens of our state tide over this unprecedented water crisis,” he had added.