Kerala CM offers 20 lakh litres of water to parched Chennai; TN CM EPS turns it down

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's officer on Thursday said that their offer to send 20 lakh litres of drinking water to parched Tamil Nadu was turned down by the neighbouring state.

"Since Tamil Nadu is going through serious shortage of water, we were willing to send 20 lakh litres of water on trains. But they have said that at the moment, they do not require it," Vijayan's office said in a statement.

Responding to the gesture, Leader of opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly MK Stalin, thanking Kerala for its timely support, urged the Tamil Nadu government to work with Kerala to help to tide over the unprecedented water crisis.

Even as Tamil Nadu is facing one of the worst water crisis in the recent past, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K Palaniswami has indicated that the news about water scarcity in the state is being exaggerated by the media and is not a ground reality.

He added that the government was taking steps to tackle the water shortage and he blamed the failure of monsoon for depletion of groundwater levels and the excessive and mindless construction on water-beds. Palaniswami also mentioned that the Minister for Municipal administration had conducted a meeting and the government would be taking the necessary steps.