THANJAVUR: AIADMK general secretary and the Leader of Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami, on Sunday urged the Tamil Nadu Government to immediately release water from Mettur dam to save the standing paddy crop in the delta districts.
He was talking to reporters after inspecting the paddy fields at Vannarapettai village near Thanjavur on his way back from a marriage function held at Thillaisthanam.
"If farmers don't do wetting (of paddy) now, the crops will wilt. And farmers will face huge loss", he said adding the Government should take into consideration the plight of the farmers and release adequate quantities of water from Mettur dam. He further said the standing crops need water for 20 more days.
"Only if water is available for another 20 days, the farmers could get revenue. The Government will also get paddy production. Hence the Government needs to immediately release water from Mettur. Then only the crops could be saved", he added.
Earlier speaking at the marriage function Palaniswami said AIADMK demitted office in 2021 the Tamil Nadu Government's debt stood at Rs 5.18 lakh crores. During the last five years, the DMK Government borrowed around Rs 5 lakh crores, he added.
"(CM) M K Stalin Government's only achievement is increasing the liability of the people of the state (through debt)", he quipped.
Referring to an agreement made for exploring Coal Bed Methane (CBM) in delta districts when M K Stalin was deputy Chief Minister.
"As farmers who were agitated over this asked us to intervene, when we came to power, we declared the delta districts as a Protected Agricultural zone through an act", Palaniswami said.
The leader of opposition listed out various initiatives of the AIADMK Government led by him including desilting of canals, implementation of Kudimaramathu scheme for desilting ponds and lakes and waiver of farm loans during COVID pandemic.