Chennai: Averring that the State government has been prevailing upon the Centre to link the rivers in the country, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday urged the Narendra Modi government to enact a law in the Parliament for linking the rivers in India.
Addressing a mammoth gathering of the Rally for Rivers, a nationwide campaign of spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, here on Sunday evening, Mr Palaniswami who pledged his support for the cause, said his government had launched the Kudi Maramathu scheme of renovating the water bodies with the active participation of the farmers.
Listing out the various steps taken by his government for conservation, he said the state government has been attaching utmost importance to protecting the water bodies and it had initiated the afforestation programme too. “It has been planned to build new check dams and dams at an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore,” he announced.
Recalling the role of former CM J. Jayalalithaa in conservation measures, Palaniswami said she had evinced a keen interest in afforestation programme and restoring water bodies as well. Deputy CM O. Panneerselvam, forest minister Dindigul C. Sreenivasan, Chairman of Apollo Hospitals Dr Prathap C. Reddy, Jaggi Vasudev and actors: Vivek and Suhasini spoke. Meanwhile, Tamil film ‘superstar’ Rajinikanth extended his support for the Rally for Rivers.
