MADURAI/SIVAGANGA: The AIADMK government is aiming to make Tamil Nadu a water scarcity-free State and provide tap water connections to every household, said Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. He was in Madurai to lay foundation stone to a water supply improvement scheme and inaugurate various completed projects at the Collectorate on Friday.
Palaniswami laid the foundation stone for a Rs 1,295.76-crore worth water supply improvement scheme for the Madurai Corporation and unveiled 12 completed projects of worth Rs 69.11 crore. The scheme would ensure round-the-clock water supply to city residents of all 100 wards by drawing water from the Lower Camp of Mullaiperiyar dam in Kerala to areas under the Madurai Corporation through a 143-km pipeline under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
Speaking to reporters, he said, “A total of 76 integrated drinking water schemes have been inaugurated so far. During the tenure of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, 4,090 MLD of water was supplied across the State. In the past 9.5 years of AIADMK in power, the number has gone up to 7,600 MLD.” Taking a dig at DMK chief MK Stalin, Palaniswami said that the Opposition leader was scared of AIADMK’s growth and thus he is hesitant to meet the public.
“Unlike him, we meet people directly. The AIADMK government has made dreams of students from government schools come true by implementing 7.5 per cent reservation in UG medical and dental admissions. Later, in Sivaganga, Palaniswami launched a Tollscope phase-II project to facilitate the enforcement of traffic violations through the use of artificial intelligence.
The police have installed 15 automatic number plate recording cameras with embedded AI system in the town. These cameras will identify traffic violators and capture an image, registration number and take details of the owners from the RTO database. The device will generate an auto e-challan that will be uploaded in the Central government e-challan server and from there the vehicle owner will get an SMS of the e-challan.
Palaniswami also chaired a meeting to review the Covid-19 situation in Sivaganga. Palaniswami also announced that his government will write the to the Centre to categorize and commonly call the seven castes — Devendrakulathar, Pallar, Vadhiriyar, Kaaladi, Kadaiyar, Pannadi, Kudumbar — as Devendrakula Vellalar. The existing benefits of the communities in the quota will not be affected, he added.
He also presented a employment letter to a person with disability, at the Sivaganga Collectorate. Masthan Badusha, a PwD, had presented a memorandum to Palaniswami while he was on his way to Sivaganga from Madurai. The Chief Minister ordered that Masthan be given a job at Karaikudi Government Hospital blood bank and presented him an order to that effect. Government school students, who benefitted from 7.5 per cent reservation, thanked Palaniswami on Friday.