Another waterbody gets new lease of life in Thanjavur

Around 28.50 lakh litres of rain water can be stored in the tank

Thanjavur Corporation employees cleaning the tank at Manonmani Nagar on Saturday.

The Thanjavur Corporation on Saturday revived yet another waterbody in the town.

Fortnight ago the Corporation had cleaned ‘Nagai Kuttai’ on the Thanjavur-Nagapattinam Road near Cholan Nagar, under Jal Shakti Abhiyan, a time bound, mission mode water conservation campaign of the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

On Saturday, the civic staff removed wild growth, garbage and other waste from the tank located at Manonmani Nagar. The tank was in disuse for years together. The cleaning operation commenced at around 6 a.m. under the leadership of the Corporation Commissioner, P. Janaki Ravindran, and ended around noon.

By bringing back this 18,000 square feet wide waterbody into use, around 28.50 lakh litres of rain water could be stored in the tank which would help recharge the groundwater level in the area, according to Corporation sources.

Already the Corporation has taken up rejuvenation of three waterbodies - Sivagangaikulam, Ayyankulam and Samanthankulam – under the Smart City programme, sponsored by the Union Government. Meanwhile, some NGOs and local residents groups have embarked upon reviving waterbodies in the Corporation limit such as Allikulam, after obtaining prior permission from the civic body.

However, in some areas such as Vallalar Nagar, work on rejuvenating the waterbodies have been carried just for namesake, allege the local residents. To substantiate their claim they said the officials have dug a crude water inlet path from the Medical College Road into the Thoppukulam in the area since a group of people objected to the revival of the main water inlet channel on the Northwest corner of the tank.

Steps leading to the tank bed have also been buried under earth when the Medical College Road widening work was taken up, they allege.