COIMBATORE: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurated the 122nd Ooty Flower Show at the Government Botanical Garden here on Friday morning. After the function, the Chief Minister, along with several other ministers, including Rural Development Minister S P Velumani, went around the place and appreciated the flowers on show and the replica of the Mettur Dam, which has been made with around one lakh red and white carnations.
In his address at the function, the Chief Minister described Tamil Nadu’s struggle for Cauvery river as historic. The 32-year-struggle was led by the late chief ministers M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, he said.“The struggle has almost come to an end. As the Supreme Court has said that its order would be based on the previous judgement, we expect a positive response,” he said. Speaking about the political scenario in the State, Palaniswami took a dig at AMMK leader T T V Dinakaran, without mentioning his name.
“Using the former Chief Minister’s name, some are claiming that they are working for the people. They are trying to grab power. However, their dreams will vanish,” he said. Palaniswami then spoke about the schemes initiated and implemented by the late Jayalalithaa as chief minister, and said that his government was continuing these for the welfare of the people.
“Notably, under the Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefit Scheme, former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had increased the benefit from Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000, and the present government has increased it to Rs 18,000 as this benefits poor pregnant women in rural areas,” he said.Palaniswami also said that he has been meeting people from all districts. “During MGR birth centenary celebrations, I met the people of 30 districts in six months, and launched projects costing Rs 5,000 crore in the 30 districts,” he said.
Referring to the earlier announcement about the early release of convicts in connection with the MGR birth centenary, he said about 1,800 convicts who had served more than 10 years in prison are likely to be released in the coming days.
The Chief Minister inaugurated work on the Rs 1,850-crore, 500-MW Kundha underground hydroelectric power station and five other new schemes, with an outlay of Rs 10.85 crore. Seven schemes, completed at a cost of Rs 7.49 crore were also inaugurated. He distributing welfare aid, amounting to Rs 11.25 crore, to 1,577 people.
Mettur Dam replica made with one lakh flowers
The main attraction at the flower show is a replica of the Mettur Dam: 60 ft wide and 20 ft tall, around a lakh red and white carnation flowers went into its making. A major draw for children is a six-foot Barbie-doll replica, made of 3,000 archit flowers. This is also a popular ‘selfie spot’. As many as 2,500 tulips imported from Holland are also on show. The show has 178 varieties of flowers in more than 40,000 pots. The total number of plants in them number five lakh; in addition, there are 40,000 rose plants, according to Horticulture Department officials