Desilting of tanks was probably not on its agenda, until the President of the Tamizhga Vivasayigal Sangam approached City Union Bank with the request.

Recalling the meeting with the Sangham president, the bank's Managing Director N Kamakodi told BusinessLine that the board accepted the plea and in a matter of three months managed to desilt four out of the 16 lakes in and around Mannargudi town.

“The locals also contributed their bit, to give fresh lease of life to these water bodies. As luck would have it, there was a heavy downpour the day after we completed desilting of the lakes.

“We did not anticipate the rains. We were expecting showers only in October, when the North-East monsoon starts. But ground water replenishment was the need of the hour and the unexpected downpour resulted in the overflowing of the lakes into the connected streams, before overflowing into the Pamaniyar river,” said Kamakodi, thanking the Rain God, locals, retired PWD engineers and all those involved in rejuvenation of the lakes.

“The drive has started yielding results. As many as 60 to 70 villages in and around Mannargudi town got a new lease of life,” he said and stressed the need for corporates to chip in and work on such projects.

Kamakodi said the depletion of ground water resources has been quite scary, with the levels going well below 1,000 feet in Thanjavur and its surroundings.

Water conservation is the need of the hour, the bank chief reiterated before adding that this was only a maiden attempt, taken up on a trial basis. "We are preparing to take up cleansing of four more lakes during the next year, with the support of the locals and Public Works Department officials.

On fund allocation, he said "we had sanctioned around Rs 90 lakh for this project, but a closer look at the cost-benefit analysis shows it is several times the investment."

Besides looking at projects in and around the bank's headquarters, Kamakodi said CUB would also be contributing to Coimbatore-based NGO Siruthuli's project in Mathampatti.