TIRUNELVELI: Minister KN Nehru reviewed the implementation status of different water supply schemes and actions being taken to resolve the drinking water shortage, with the officials of four down south districts on Monday. Assembly speaker M Appavu, Minister Geetha Jeevan, and the Collectors K P Karthikeyan (Tirunelveli), Senthilraj (Thoothukudi), and D Ravichandran (Tenkasi) also took part.
Speaking to the press, Nehru said drinking water to 75% of the areas in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi, and Kanniyakumari are being supplied without any issue. "Some places are facing issues as the drinking water pipelines that were laid about 20 years ago have become faulty. We are making efforts to resolve such issues.
To quench the thirst of as many as 831 residential units in Radhapuram, Valliyoor, Nanguneri, Kalakkad, Palayamkottai, and Cheranmahadevi areas, a combined water supply scheme is being readied at an outlay of Rs 605.75 crore. Thamirabarani river water will be extracted from Munneerpallam, which will be purified in the plant that is being set up on a six-acre land in Singikulam. The purified water will be stored in the tanks at Piranda Malai area, from where the water will be supplied to the households," said the minister who later paid a visit to Singikulam.
Stating that the generation of clean water through the desalination plant is not cost-effective, Nehru said the state government has been working towards bringing the Cauvery water to Oddanchatram, a portion in Dindigul and Ramanathapuram district, at a cost of Rs 4,800 crore. "However, an idea of setting up desalination plants in the coastal areas, including Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram, and Pudukottai, to supply drinking water during drought will be considered," he said.
The Minister further said Vasudevanallur MLA Sathan Thirumalaikumar and Tenkasi MP Dhanush M Kumar have suggested digging sustainable drinking water wells in the foothills of the Western Ghats in Tenkasi district, which would be helpful in resolving drinking water shortage, adding that he would discuss this idea with Chief Minister MK Stalin.
Appavu promises to bring water in two months
When asked about the prolonged water shortage in his Radhapuram constituency, Speaker M Appavu promised that a six-crore project will be implemented in two months to supply drinking water to the households of 11 villages, including Kuttam, Uvari, Anaikudi, Idaiyankudi, Koothankuli, Vijayapathi, and Kudankulam.