(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Tamil Nadu Co-operatives Minister Sellur K Raju who attempted to cover a dam in sheets of polystyrene has been left red-faced after his bizarre water-saving scheme backfired.
Raju waded into the dam with dozens of sheets of polystyrene, convinced they could help reduce water evaporation in the drought-stricken state.
But the noble yet puzzling effort went belly-up almost immediately as strong winds lifted the lightweight sheets into the air, tossing them across the surface of the water.
Footage of last Friday's incident showed officials in rowing boats pursuing the airborne sheets, while others used rocks to try and keep them in place.
Elsewhere broken chunks of the white polymer plastic, stuck together with coloured tape, were seen washed up on the dam banks.
The minister defended the hare-brained scheme which reportedly cost Rs1mn ($15,500) saying he had been told 'thermocol technology could reduce water evaporation.
'I learnt about this (technology) from a source, he told reporters, without elaborating.
He said he turned to the ‘technology' as it had been successfully tested in Rajasthan in 2006.
Madurai Collector K Veera Raghava Rao claimed that thermocol is non-polluting but scientists and marine biologists insisted that the thermocol project could be dangerous.
Thermocol is non-biodegradable and splits up into tiny bits after soaking in water.
The fish could feed on such bits and die, the scientists said.
Images of the minister flailing waist-deep in water with the unwieldy sheets attracted widespread scorn on social media, where people blasted the botched experiment as a waste of public money.
'Instead of using thermocol sheets to cover the entire dam, how about using a huge tarpaulin sheet to cover the sun. Problem solved, one Twitter user wrote sarcastically.
'Tamil Nadu's Next project, putting sunglasses to the Sun! said another.
The dam on the Vaigai river is a key water source for many in the southern state, where irregular rainfall has caused a prolonged drought in many parts.
Farmers desperate for relief have been resorting to extreme acts of protest to draw attention to the crisis, including wearing necklaces of human skulls, carrying live rats in their mouths and running about naked in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office.
They postponed their protest on Sunday after being assured their case would be heard, but plan to return to the capital next month if their demands are not met.
Firm on CBI probe into Jaya death, Sasikala's removal: OPS
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam faction led by former chief minister O Panneerselvam yesterday said it remains steadfast on two demands a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa and throwing out general secretary V K Sasikala and her family out of the party.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai, a leader of the faction, K P Munusamy said the death of Jayalalithaa has raised several doubts in the minds of people.
The Tamil Nadu government has to write to the central government seeking a probe by the CBI, he said.
Strict secrecy was maintained about Jayalalithaa's health when she was in Apollo Hospital for 75 days last year. She died on December 5, 2016.
According to Munusamy, the seven-member committee formed by the ruling AIADMK faction has not called the Panneerselvam group for talks on unification.
He said different leaders are voicing different views in the ruling camp and it seems some unseen force is directing them.
Munusamy added that Sasikala and all her family members should be removed from the AIADMK.
Meanwhile, a security guard at Jayalalithaa's Kodanad tea estate in Nilgiris district was murdered and another injured in an attack by unidentified persons, police said yesterday.
According to police, a group of unidentified persons fatally attacked Om Bahadur and injured Krishna Bahadur on Sunday night.
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