As many as 535 water bodies in Cuddalore district will be desilted under the Kudimaramathu scheme aimed at increasing the water storage capacity in tanks, Collector T.P. Rajesh said.
In a statement, he said, renovation and maintenance of water bodies and irrigation channels with farmers’ participation would be taken up across the district. As many as 535 water bodies including 228 tanks maintained by the Public Works Department (PWD), the Wellingdton reservoir, 75 town panchayats tanks and 231 village panchayats tanks have been notified for the removal of silt and gravel.
A massive awareness campaign will be launched by officials of the Department of Agriculture and Horticulture on the Kudimaramathu scheme. Facilitation centres have been opened at the block level agricultural depots and village administrative offices for issuing applications.
Mr. Rajesh said that the quantity of silt and clay proposed to be removed for agricultural purpose from the beds of tanks, channels and reservoirs, should not exceed 75 cubic metres per acre for wet lands and 90 cubic metres per acre for dry lands, once in two years. The quantity of earth and gravel proposed to be removed for other domestic purposes should not exceed 30 cubic metres.
Curbs on quarrying
Quarrying will be permitted only in the area demarcated by the PWD, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj. The permission will be valid for a period which shall not exceed 20 days, he said.
Meanwhile, the Thiruvandhipuram village panchayat along with Ramanujam Millennium Trust has started work on digging a pond on a barren land to conserve rain water. The government land is located close to a hillock and the work was inaugurated by Industries Minister M.C. Sampath last month, said Srivatsan Seshadri, a spokesperson of the Trust.
