Mettur dam may be shut in 2 days due to DMK govt’s flaws: AIADMK

TIRUCHY: Due to the incompetence in the administration of the DMK government, the Mettur reservoir is likely to be closed in the middle of the season for the first time, charged former minister R Kamaraj on Thursday.

Addressing a mega protest organised by the AIADMK demanding the State government to initiate steps to get water from Karnataka, in Thanjavur, the former minister said that Chief Minister MK Stalin has been claiming that the Kuruvai cultivation has achieved beyond the target with over 5 lakh acre and 13 lakh acre samba cultivation, but in reality more than 3.50 lakh acre kuruvai has withered without water. While the level in Mettur has gone below 33 feet with silt up to 25 feet, the reservoir is expected to be closed in a couple of days.

“This is for the first time, the Mettur reservoir is going to be closed in the middle of the season due to incompetence in administration,” Kamaraj said and demanded a compensation of Rs 35,000 per acre for Kuruvai farmers. For the past two years, the DMK government has not initiated steps for kuruvai insurance, the minister adeed.

Former minister C Vijayabaskar said, former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami understands the feelings of the farmers as he himself is one.

“EPS released a drought compensation of Rs 2,268 crore when he was the Chief Minister. AIADMK is the only party that gave a crop damage compensation of Rs 9,600 crore but Chief Minister MK Stalin, who claims himself as a Delta man, fails to understand the farmers’ woes and refuses to meet those who want to air their grievances,” he said and added that the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa had waged a legal fight on the Cauvery issue for 23 years and won the battle.