Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday urged his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan to extend cooperation to store water to the full level in the Mullaperiyar dam.
Welcoming Kerala's gesture to supply water to Tamil Nadu, the chief minister said the neighbouring state had only offered a one-time supply of two million litres whereas everyday supply would help.
"I thank the Kerala Chief Minister, but this will not be sufficient. We are supplying 525 million litres water (in Chennai) daily. It will be useful for us if 2 million litres could be given to the state every day," he said.
Poondi, Chembarambakkam, Sholavaram and Red Hills reservoirs here have dried up and despite that supplies were being made to the people, he said.
Pointing to the Supreme Court judgement on the Mullaiperiyar dam which had said that water could be stored to the full level of 152 ft after carrying out strengthening works, he alleged that Kerala, however, scuttled refurbishment works.
"We need every drop of water," he said addressing a press conference here adding people in five districts, including Theni and Ramanathapuram were dependent, on Mullaiperiyar water for their livelihood.
He appealed to Kerala to extend cooperation to store full water in the Mullaiperiyar dam.
Also, he appealed to the people to use water judiciously in view of the shortage situation.