As many as 188 waterbodies in Karaikal and 147 in Puducherry have been de-silted and restored to their original condition so far, said Minister for Public Works A. Namassivayam, during his address at the launch of the mobile application Neer Padhivu-Jal Abhilekh App .
The Minister said the project was part of de-silting and upkeep of waterbodies in Puducherry and Karaikal.
The government wanted restoration of ponds to turn into a people’s movement. Individuals and corporates have come forward to clean up waterbodies but the continued maintenance of the restored lakes and ponds was the challenge, he added.
DC T. Arun, in his address, said around 700 ponds, lakes and channels have been identified after verification of revenue and municipal records. The decision to match the records of revenue and local bodies led to the detection of several encroached waterbodies, he added.
In his presentation, Senior Scientist Krishna Khairnar said the app, available on Google Play Store, was the first application in which remote sensing and GIS based geo-tagging for identification and regular monitoring of land use change near waterbodies was done. The app would also provide a platform for public participation in maintenance of restored lakes and ponds through crowdsourcing. It was designed jointly by the district administration and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute.
Ministers M.O.H.F. Shahjahan, M. Kandasamy and Minister R. Kamalakannan also participated.
