AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday blamed the DMK for delaying the commissioning of the Avinashi-Athikadavu project as it was introduced by his erstwhile government.
“Governments keep changing. A government is deemed good only if it continues projects of the previous government that benefit people. But the present government is not bothered [to do so]. It will not bring in [projects], and will not complete the ones introduced by the previous government. Such an inefficient government is ruling now,” he said at a felicitation ceremony organised for him by farmers’ associations at Annur.
‘Kept idle’
Mr. Palaniswami further said that he had issued an order allotting ₹1,652 crore for the Avinashi–Athikadavu project in 2018. “Almost 85% of the work was completed under the AIADMK rule. The remaining work was pending owing to issues involving land acquisition. The pending work, which could have been completed in one year, was left idle only due to political vengeance as it was a project of the AIADMK. The present Chief Minister inaugurated it after keeping it idle for four years,” he claimed.
Mr. Palaniswami further said that farmers of Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode would have benefited by the project had it been commissioned by the present government in one year. The previous AIADMK government had completed a detailed project report for the phase-2 of the project.
“Now with all your support, the AIADMK will come back to power in Tamil Nadu. It will continue with phase 2 [of the project],” he added.
Former Minister S.P. Velumani said only Mr. Palaniswami could claim credit for the Avinashi–Athikadavu project. AIADMK MLAs and State president of the BJP farmers’ wing, G.K. Nagaraj, were among those who shared dais with Mr. Palaniswami.
The Avinashi–Athikadavu project proposes to divert 1.5 thousand million cubic feet of surplus water from downstream of Kalingarayan anicut of the Bhavani river at Kalingarayanpalayam in Erode, filling 1,045 waterbodies and irrigating 24,468 acres of farmland in three districts.
Earlier, in a statement, Mr. Palaniswami hit out at the DMK government over the recent incidents of crimes against women in various parts of the State.
Calling Chief Minister M.K. Stalin a “puppet Chief Minister”, Mr. Palaniswami said the former was unable to prevent offences against women. According to him, such crimes were on the rise only due to the “carelessness” of those in the administration.
Published – February 10, 2025 12:30 am IST