NAGAPATTINAM/TIRUVARUR: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami visited Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts on Saturday to campaign for Lok Sabha and assembly elections and assured voters that the Godavari and Cauvery rivers would be interlinked to solve the water crisis.
While addressing voters in Nagapattinam, and later in Sirkazhi and Mayiladuthurai, Palaniswami said, “We are tired of fighting water battles legally. It is time to think differently, and think of water management as a way to solve the woes. The rivers Godavari and Cauvery will be connected, and the project will be implemented at a cost of Rs 60,000 crore. The project will be implemented to provide better irrigation for farmers in the region. It is our ambition, and I will ensure this as a farmer-cum-CM”
In Mayiladuthurai, Palaniswami said, “A team of four retired engineers are studying how th water is going into the sea in several places Poompuhar and fining out ways to conserve water. All the waterbodies would be properly dredged and desilted to prevent even single drop of water from going into the sea.” Palaniswami also said he would increase the number of MGNREGA work days from 100 to 200, adding that check dams would be built on rivers to increase groundwater perforation and increase the height of the water table.
Palaniswami launched an offensive against DMK president MK Stalin by raising the Biriyani shop attack and the beauty parlour assault involving workers of the opposition party. He asked DMK cadres to settle their bills with cash rather than by punching shopkeepers and staff.
Talking in Nannilam about the Kodanad estate controversy, the chief minister said, “Those involved in the Kodanadu estate deaths have many cases of murder and robbery against them. But Stalin tried to get them out on bail. The one who tries desperately to save them should only be termed as their gang leader.”
Palaniswami also said that the government’s Rs 2,000 aid had been stalled by opposition parties and would continue to be distributed after the elections.
The chief minister visited the villages of Panangudi and Andipandal near Nannilam, in Tiruvarur district, and interacted with farmers.
Palaniswami began his day with an address in Vallampadugai, near Chidambaram. He began his Nagapattinam tour with a stop in Kollidam. He campaigned in Sirkazhi, Vaitheeswaran Koil, Mayiladuthurai for the AIADMK-led alliance’s Mayiladuthurai Lok Sabha constituency candidate, S Asaimani.
He then entered Tiruvarur district to campaign for Nagapattinam Lok Sabha candidate ‘Thazhai’ M Saravanan and addressed public meetings in Nannilam and Tiruvarur.
In the afternoon, he took a tour through Koradaceri, Koothanallur, and Vadapathimangalam to campaign for Tiruvarur assembly candidate R Jeevanandham. The AIADMK joint coordinator then came back to Nagapattinam for meetings in Kilvelur and Nagapattinam before winding
up with an address in Velankanni.