CHENNAI: Municipal Administration and Water Supply minister KN Nehru along with Hindu Religion and Charitable Endowments Minister PK Sekar Babu flagged off rainwater harvesting awareness rally and vehicles to create awareness among the public at George Town on Saturday.

Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) continued to carry out various activities under the water management drive, rainwater harvesting, restoration of lakes, and borewell recharge.

Before the onset of the Northeast monsoon, the work of rehabilitating rainwater structures in government offices, hospitals and schools are planned.

During the awareness campaign, pamphlets and manuals related to rainwater harvest will be distributed to the public by a group of volunteers.

At least 1,000 volunteers have been formed to carry out awareness work related to rainwater harvesting.

The teams, divided zone- wise, decided to visit 11 lakh residents at 35,000 streets and create awareness.

"The State is providing drinking water to about 4.5 crore people in 548 places. More attention has been given to new drinking water projects, which have started at an estimated cost of Rs 16,000 Crore. And steps taken to get financial assistance from JICA to carry out the project are worth around Rs 14,000 Crore. This year alone the drinking water project has been carried out for Rs 30,000 crore, " said KN Nehru.

The work to store water naturally and distribute that water to the public is underway. In North Chennai, the sewage pipes are more than 40-years-old, and the replacement of these pipes is in process.

"In many areas here, new sewage pumping stations and drinking water board area offices have been started. Additionally, sewage water pumping stations will be laid in several areas in North Chennai and the waste water will be discharged properly in the locality," added the minister.

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