WATER CRISIS: EPS ANNOUNCES DECISION ON WATER OFFER FROM KERALA!

A day after the Kerala Government decided to offer 20 lakh litres of drinking water to parched Tamil Nadu, the state government on Friday has accepted Kerala's offer.

As per India Today report, the decision was taken in a review meeting chaired by the Tamil Nadu chief minister on Friday. "We have decided to accept water from Kerala and we are thankful to CM Pinarayi Vijayan. It will be great if they can give us 2 mld (million litre per day) every day," chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also requested the Kerala government to cooperate to store water in the Mullaperiyar dam.

Meanwhile, K Palaniswami said he will write to Pinarayi Vijayan as he could not do the same earlier due to poor health. Yesterday, there were reports that the Tamil Nadu government had turned down the offer saying there was "no need for the help at present." The Kerala government has made different excuses for the dam. I request the Kerala government to look into this. Every drop of water is important for Tamil Nadu. There is a massive crisis here, he said.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's office had earlier said it had contacted the Tamil Nadu CMO on the offer, but the neighbouring state informed that "at present, there is no need for the help".

Media reports say that, Kerala was prepared to transport 20 lakh litres of drinking water from Thiruvananthapuram to Chennai through train. To which opposition leader MK Stalin had thanked Vijayan for his "timely offer." "I wholeheartedly thank chief minister of Kerala @vijayanpinarayi for his timely offer to provide water to Tamil Nadu," he said in a tweet.

"Urge government of Tamil Nadu to work with Govt of Kerala to help citizens of our state tide over this unprecedented water crisis, " he had added.

Several parts of Tamil Nadu, particularly Chennai and its suburbs, have been reeling under water scarcity following depletion of groundwater level and poor storage in many lakes that cater to the needs of the city.

I wholeheartedly thank Chief Minister of Kerala @vijayanpinarayi for his timely offer to provide water to Tamil Nadu.

Urge Govt of Tamil Nadu to work with Govt of Kerala to help citizens of our state tide over this unprecedented water crisis.

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) June 20, 2019