Kerala offers drinking water to TN, EPS govt turns it down

Kerala government led by Pinarayi Vijayan has offered 20 lakhs of drinking water to the state of Tamil Nadu which is reeling under severe water shortage. However, the EPS government has not accepted the offer.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that Tamil Nadu government led by CM Edappadi K Palaniswami rejected their offer of sending 20 Lakh litres of drinking water to the state reeling under an acute water crisis.

"Since Tamil Nadu is going through a 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," Kerala CMO said in a statement.

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

However, Tamil Nadu's Municipal Administration minister SP Velumani has said that Kerala government's offer was a one time supply and the final call regarding the offer will be taken in a meeting to be conducted on June 21.

Chennai and its suburbs are experiencing severe water scarcity, with borewells and lakes going dry, forcing people and commercial establishments to depend on water supplied through tankers from villages in neighbouring districts.

Read: DMK to protest government 'inaction' on water crisis