The Hindu : Sonia to tour State for two days

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 07, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Sonia to tour State for two days

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 6. The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, will undertake a two-day tour of Kerala towards this month end or early next month.

The Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, told presspersons here today that the tour was part of Ms. Gandhi's ongoing `Jan Sampark Abhiyan' (mass contact campaign), which had seen her travel to parts of Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh during the last two months.

Mr. Antony said the State unit of the party had been asked to draw up a tentative travel plan. The itinerary is expected to include major districts so that she could cover the maximum area during the road travel.

Mr. Antony, who is also a member of the party's central election committee, said the body would meet next weekend to finalise candidates. The CEC has had two rounds of meeting.

The State sends 20 members to the Lok Sabha.

UNI adds:

On the acute drought facing the State, Mr. Antony said a meeting of Collectors had been scheduled for March 10 and efforts were on to solve the crisis on a war footing. The formation of a crisis management cell was also under consideration. The State would have to concentrate on long-term measures such as rainwater harvesting to tide over the situation.

Mr. Antony said the Government had released Rs.120 crores to all the 14 districts for drought relief works. He hoped that the Centre would help the State substantially in view of the demand for a Rs.1,359-crore drought relief assistance.

Asked if an all-party meeting would be convened to discuss the drought situation, Mr. Antony said the Government would seek the support of all if found necessary.

Asked what his Government was doing to check illegal sale of river water by private parties, he said the administration was taking stern action where such practices were noticed. The main reason for depletion of the water bodies was illegal sand-mining. Mr. Antony said the State was still against the Centre's proposed multi-crore river-linking project. If implemented, the State would become a desert. There was no change in the State Government's views against the project.

The State formed its views on the basis of the feedback it had received from a discussion in the Assembly and also by taking into consideration the facts presented by the media.

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