The Tamil version of the ‘Water Rich Puducherry Mission’ document was launched at a farmers’ meet organised at the Raj Nivas on Sunday.
The document was jointly released by Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi, Agriculture Minister R. Kamalakannan and other officials.
The meet was organised to sensitise farmers on water harvesting techniques, storage, use, conservation and the challenges ahead.
Reviewing waterbodies
Earlier, Ms. Bedi also led a weekend review visit of waterbodies — the Odaperi Tank in Karayambattur and the Periya eri in Panayadikuppam — to gauge the effectiveness of intensive desilting of 14 rural channels. The review visits were planned ahead of the Water Day celebrations on March 22.
It was observed that the Odaperi Tank wasn’t filled with enough water. It was also found that inadequate attention was being given to smaller feeder channels.
According to Ms. Bedi, a WhatsApp group with active representatives of each village would be formed. This would help them stay connected with SE Irrigation and chalk out measures to improve the water level of the feeder channels. The PWD has been asked to prepare a status report on major, secondary and tertiary feeder channels. Representatives from villages abetting the major/minor irrigation channels would be co-opted by the JEs concerned for de-silting and better management of irrigation channels.