CHENNAI: Reviewing the progress made in works relating to drought relief, supply of drinking water and ongoing welfare schemes across the State, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday granted an additional Rs 100 crore towards mitigating drinking water shortage and augmenting supply, wherever necessary.
He also directed ministers and IAS officers to undertake field assessment of the progress made in the works within a week and take appropriate follow-up action.
The Chief Minister directed officials that quality must be maintained for all drinking water projects. Already, the State government had released Rs 501.70 crore through various departments to mitigate drinking water shortage. The chief minister directed officials to complete these works at the earliest.
Further, to manage the drinking water requirements across the State during summer, he sanctioned Rs 40 crore for Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, in addition to Rs 25 crore already sanctioned. Similarly, Rs 35 crore has been allocated to the municipal administration department over and above the earlier allocation of Rs 30 crore.
For Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board, Rs 25 crore has been allocated in addition to Rs 25 crore already set apart. In all, Rs 100 crore has been sanctioned in addition.
Further, to overcome the scarcity of cattle feed due to prevailing drought, already 8,915 tonnes of dry feed worth Rs 10.17 crore had been supplied to people at subsidised price. To meet the requirement during April and May, the chief minister has sanctioned Rs 20 crore from the State Disaster Management Fund for providing cattle feed.
Already, the government had disbursed Rs 2,247 crore towards input grant to farmers who were affected by drought. The chief minister reviewed the progress made in the release of this fund and directed officials to expedite the disbursal of insurance claims to farmers who had lost their standing crops.
The high-level meeting that lasted nearly three hours at the Secretariat, was attended by senior ministers C Sreenivasan, K A Sengottaiyan, P Thangamani, S P Velumani, D Jayakumar, K P Anbazhagan, R Doraikannu and R B Udhayakumar, Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, Finance Secretary K Shanmugam, Commissioner of Revenue Administration, K Satyagopal and officials from various other departments.