The need for conserving water dominated the gram sabha meetings conducted across all the 420 panchayats in the district on Monday.
In the meeting attended by Madurai Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao in Thumbaipatti panchayat in Melur Taluk, he urged the people to save every drop of water, considering the prevalent drought conditions and drinking water crisis.
He said that though the district administration had taken up various measures to mitigate the drinking water crisis, he sought the cooperation of the public to tackle the situation.
He pointed out that 605 project works of various types, including sinking of new borewells, were being carried out across the district at a cost of ₹ 32 crore to mitigate the situation.
Pointing out that the district administration was diligently monitoring any wastage of water due to leaks in pipelines, he asked the public also to come forward and report any such incident. The Collector also stressed the need for keeping the villages free from open defecation and also clean by effective handling of waste. Responding to the demand from the villagers, particularly women, that the Government should not open a TASMAC liquor shop in their village, Mr. Rao assured that liquor shops would not be opened against the will of the local population.
B. Rohini Ramdas, Additional Collector (Development) and Project Officer of District Rural Development Agency, Benedict Dharmarai, Revenue Divisional Officer, Melur, and other senior officials also attended the grama sabha meeting in Thumbaipatti.
