SALEM: Denying that his government was planning stricter lockdown,Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami on Friday said false news was being spread over announcing another shutdown and warned of stern legal action on those spreading such rumours.
"I saw that such a message is being spread on my name on WhatsApp. We have not made any such announcement. The government has no such plans (to enforce stricter lockdown measures). Strict legal action will be taken against those spreading this false message," the chief minister told reporters after opening the shutters of the Mettur dam to facilitate irrigation.
Palaniswami's assertion comes days after it was widely speculated by many on social media that the sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 positive cases and deaths in the state, would make the state government announce a stricter lockdown.
Tamil Nadu has about 40,698 COVID-19 cases with over 27,000 from Chennai alone, as of June 11.
The state government on Friday informed the Madras High Court that there was no plan as of now to bring Chennai or any other place in Tamil Nadu under complete lockdown to check COVID-19 spread.
The submission was made in response to a query by the court on Thursday as to whether complete lockdown can be implemented in the metropolis and its suburbs for some time as these areas have been reporting high number of cases in the past several days.
Maintaining that the high density of population in Chennai could be a factor triggering the spike in COVID-19 cases, Palaniswami said, "there are at least 87 lakh people living in Chennai.
We have narrow streets that are only five to six feet wide and seven to eight people live in the same house. This is the reason for the spread of the disease.
" Underscoring the importance of following safety protocols, thechief minister said people have still not understood the seriousness of the situation. Sadly, on my way here, I saw that people were not wearing face masks," he said.
He urged the people to adhere to the government's instruction on safety norms and join the state's initiatives in combating the dreaded virus.
Palaniswami also reminded the people that the medical professionals were striving hard, risking their lives to save people.
"The opposition is spreading false information about the infection," the CM said and added his government had lowered the amount fixed by central government towards treatment costs for COVID-19 in private hospitals.
To a question, the Chief Minister replied that schools would be opened after containing the spread of the virus.
"All decisions regarding the reopening of schools will be made only after we check the spread of this virus," he said.
On acharge that certain private schools were collecting exorbitant fee despite orders from the state government, Palaniswami said stern action would be taken on such institutions if a complaint was received.
On Friday, about 3,000 cusecs water was released from the Mettur dam.
The water from the dam was previously released in 2011. The quantum of water being released would be gradually increased to 10,000 cusecs, the CM said.
Further decision on releasing additional quantum of water would be taken based on the requirements of farmers in the Delta region comprising of Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, and parts of Pudukkottai districts, he added.
The decision to release water was taken following a bountiful rainfall which raised the water level in the reservoir to over 100 feet.
According to an official release, the water would be released for 90 days. The chief minister opened the sluice gates of the dam at about 10 am and sprinkled flowers on the gushing water.