At a time when Tamil Nadu is facing one of the worst water crises in the last few decades, a review meeting scheduled to be held on Wednesday to take stock of the situation has been postponed once again. Sources say the meeting was postponed as Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami is unwell and has been advised rest, for at least a day, by the doctors. It is the second time in the past three days that the high-level meeting, which was to be held at the state secretariat, has been postponed.
On Tuesday evening, as the officials from various departments were set to get back home, there came an informal instruction from the state’s top most official. All the department secretaries were asked to be present in their offices at 10 am sharp on Wednesday as the chief minister would preside a meeting to discuss the water crisis in Chennai and rest of the state. It was a planned meeting where the chief minister will interact with all the district officials through video conferencing to take stock of the water crisis situation in every district. While all arrangements in the district headquarters were made for the video conferencing, the meeting was postponed as the chief minister is reportedly unwell.
Also read
- ‘A precursor to saffronising everything’: Stalin slams DD logo change
- Why Tamil Nadu recorded a low voter turnout this Lok Sabha elections
- From an aide of Jayalalithaa to a fervent fan of Modi, Nainar Nagendran’s long run in TN politics
- Watch: Amid ‘Mughal mindset’ jab, Rahul Gandhi shares a ‘sweet moment’ with TN CM Stalin
Earlier, a similar meeting convened on June 17 had also been cancelled. The chief minister was scheduled to hold a meeting with the local administration minister S.P. Velumani, metro water department officials, department heads and other officials at the secretariat and then inform through the media the actions taken by the government to address the water woes. Apparently, on June 17, Velumani, well ahead of the scheduled time of the meeting, summoned all officials to Chennai Corporation headquarters and took stock of the situation. Later, talking to media at the Rippon building, he dismissed the reports on water crisis and said they were “fabricated”. He said: “The government is ensuring supply throughout the city and we are addressing the shortages. We have given Tamil Nadu 2,470 MLD extra water in the last four years. Many schemes have been implemented by the state government.” He also dismissed reports of hotels cutting down the meals, IT companies asking their employees to work from home and malls resorting to rationing of water.
Incidentally, Velumani stole the show on Monday as addressing the water woes was his department’s job. As the chief minister was forced to cancel the meeting, his cabinet colleague sought to explain the reasons for the water shortage and how the government was managing it. On Tuesday, while visiting his late leader Jayalalithaa’s memorial at the Marina beach, Palaniswami echoed Velumani on the issue and said: “The municipal administration minister had already conducted a meeting with the department officials and reviewed the situation. The government is taking steps to tackle the water crisis in the state. The media is blowing up the issue.”
However, an informal instruction was sent to all the department heads and secretaries and district administration heads to be present in their offices at 10 am on Wednesday for a review meeting with the chief minister. It was planned to be a meeting through video conferencing with the authorities, so that the chief minister could take stock of the situation and make arrangements to meet the demands on a war footing. Unfortunately, the meeting had to be cancelled as the chief minister is reportedly unwell.
