CM seeks meet with PM on June 17 to discuss major TN issues

Though the Prime Minister's Office has given a nod tentatively, the actual time would be announced later, Stalin told reporters after releasing water from Mettur Dam in Salem district for irrigation in 12 delta districts during the Kuruvai season.

Stalin has written a letter about the meet with Modi to discuss, among other things, GST dues, the allocation for various development schemes, and NEET.

On releasing water, Stalin said the State government was firm on it as was mentioned in the DMK's election manifesto and exuded confidence that the State would create history in agriculture production due to the timely release.

On availability of water from Cauvery from Karnataka, he said he had written to Central Water Commission to ensure the continuous release of water as per the Supreme Court order of 9.19 tmc in June and 31.24 tmc in July.

To make the water reach the delta districts, the government has taken up 647 desilting works in nine districts at a cost of over Rs 65 crore and appointed a special officer to monitor the progress, he said.

To a question on Covid-19, Stalin said the incidence of positive cases was declining in the majority of the districts, particularly Chennai, and based on that more relaxations were announced in 27 districts.

However, the districts in western Tamil Nadu such as Coimbatore and Tirupur were reporting a little higher, he said adding that overall, the government has succeeded in controlling the spread.

On the criticism of opening government-run liquor outlets, the Chief Minister said they were opened following the decline in Covid cases and as part of the relaxation of restrictions in a few districts.

State Ministers Durai Murugan, K N Nehru, and Santhi Balaji, and senior officials from various departments were present.