CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday issued a set of guidelines for the implementation of the water bodies rejuvenation scheme, aimed at restoring and strengthening lakes, ponds and other water bodies across the State.
The guidelines, issued by Rural Development and Water Resources Minister N Anand, envisage greater participation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), educational institutions and other organisations in undertaking rejuvenation works.
According to the guidelines, the scheme will focus on desilting water bodies and strengthening water-retaining structures such as sluices and surplus weirs to improve water storage capacity.
The government has also directed that unnecessary plants and trees encroaching upon water bodies should be removed as part of the restoration process.
To avoid duplication of work, the guidelines specify that water bodies taken up for rejuvenation during the past three years will not be eligible under the scheme. Similarly, water bodies that have already benefited under schemes such as the Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam (AGAMT) and the VB-G RAM-G scheme will not be considered.
The implementation of the scheme will be supported through contributions from multinational companies, CSR initiatives, NGOs and educational institutions.
District Collectors have been designated as the nodal authorities for administering the scheme. They have been instructed to maintain a separate bank account exclusively for funds received under the programme and ensure that all financial transactions are routed through that account.
The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) will monitor the execution of works, while departmental engineers have been directed to conduct regular field inspections to ensure quality and timely completion.
The guidelines also mandate proper documentation of every project after completion to facilitate monitoring, transparency and future evaluation of the rejuvenation works undertaken across the State.