Centre urged to take up river link project

September 23, 2014 12:00 am | Updated 05:51 am IST - VELLORE

In right earnest to prevent floods and water shortage

: VIT University Chancellor G. Viswanathan has appealed to the Central government to take up river link project to solve the water shortage faced by many States.

Inaugurating a 5-day training programme on ‘Sustainable Development and Management of Ground Water Resources,’ organised by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), South Eastern Coastal Region (SECR), Ministry of Water Resources, on varsity campus here on Monday, Mr. Viswanathan said, “It is time the Centre took control of rivers and accorded priority to the project.

The project, accepted in principle by the previous National Democratic Alliance government during 1999-2014, was not followed up. The implementation of the project would not only mitigate the flood threats faced by some parts of the country but also help rain-shadow States.

E. Sampath Kumar, Regional Director, CGWB, SECR, Chennai, said officials of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board, agriculture and the agricultural engineering departments, representatives of non-governmental organisations and students were participating in the national-level programme. The participants would be imparted training in aquifer mapping, delineation of horizontal and vertical direction, conservation of groundwater, water quality assessment and vulnerability of aquifer identification.

The programme was aimed at tackling the problem of declining water level owing to urbanisation, population explosion and over-exploitation and would concentrate on areas where there had been 100 per cent exploitation of groundwater, he said.

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