CM Palaiswami says Tamil Nadu government to construct 10,000 check dams
Due to poor monsoon and struggle with the neighbors over-sharing inter-state river water, the Tamil Nadu government will say the construction of 10,000 small dams in the fiscal year at Rs 312 crore. The dams will be constructed in districts as Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Cuddalore, Villupuram, and Tirunelveli to the store the storm run-off.
The Union government also arranged 23 IAS officers in the rank of additional and joint secretaries from various ministries to undertake Dal Shakti Abhiyan, the Modi government’s mission to coordinate the implementation of various water harvesting and conservation measures in 541 firkas in 26 water-stressed in Tamil Nadu districts. The bureaucrats started on July 7, along with the groundwater scientists and engineers of Central Water Commission, Central Ground Water Board, and Water and Power Consultancy Services, a PSU, under the Ministry, to being state and Central- sponsored water conservation schemes.
The CM Palaniswami said, “With the help of workers enrolled in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), the check dams will be rebuilt across channels and streams in the rural areas to store water for better irrigation and increase the groundwater table.” While the dams will be built based on the groundwater prospects making by the Union government, in partnership with the National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad, and TWAD Board as per the MGNREGA instructions. “Availing remit sensing and geospatial technologies, the app has been prepared in a 1:50000 scale. The maps have been shared with the rural development department to help identify recharge locations” the officer said.
The sources said the Jal Shakti Abhiyan team of bureaucrats involved in five aspects- “a team of block nodal officials in the rank of deputy secretary/director from the Centre will also visit the state periodically to every three to five years blocks of the district, and coordinate with the district administration to review and expedite water harvesting and conservation measures.”
