The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Rs. 25.27 cr. for water management in three basins

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Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Rs. 25.27 cr. for water management in three basins

M. Balaganessin

PWD’s Water Resources Organisation will complete the programme by 2012

COMPILATION OF FACTS: M. Louis John, Chief Engineer, Ground and Surface Water Resources Data Centre (second from left), releasing a booklet at a function in Pudukottai on Monday. S. Seerangan, Superintending Engineer, Groundwater Circle, Thanjavur, received the first copy.

PUDUKOTTAI: A sum of Rs.25.27 crore has been sanctioned for the decision-support system for water resources planning and management in three basins.

While the World Bank has sanctioned Rs.20.65 crore, the Tamil Nadu government has released Rs. 4.62 crore. The Water Resources Organisation of the Public Works Department will complete the programme by 2012.

Flood management

The programme is aimed at flood management in the Tamirabarni basin, benefiting Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts; drought monitoring, assessment and management in the Vaippar basin in Virudunagar and Tuticorin districts; and the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater in the Agniyar basin in Pudukottai and Thanjavur districts, K. Nagarajan, consultant to Water Resources Department, Participatory Implementation Management Cell, told The Hindu on the sidelines of a workshop on the decision-support system under Hydrology Project phase–II, organised here on Monday by the Tiruchi-based Indian Management Training Institute.

Strategies

Mr. Nagarajan, who is the former Special Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, said the decision-support system would help planners, policymakers and officials prepare both short- and long-term strategies for efficient use of the groundwater and surface water, and in flood management. A software would be developed in co-ordination with the National Informatics Centre for the benefit of users.

A blend of data

M. Louis John, Chief Engineer, State Ground and Surface Water Resources Data Centre, said the decision-support system would be a blend of the data collected from the Revenue Department, the Tamil Nadu Water Supply Board, the Agriculture Department and the Agricultural Engineering Department. The data associated with each basin—meteorological, rainfall, the hydraulic particulars of anicut, tank details, humidity, yield, pollution, the demand for drinking water—would be collected from the departments.

For instance, the rate of pollution and the quantum of pollutants would be gathered from the Pollution Control Board, he said. In fact, the workshop was meant to sensitise the technicians and engineers of the lien se departments to the need for their cooperation in the data collection.

The decision-support system, Mr. Louis John said, would throw up several solutions to a single problem, thus enabling the planners and policymakers to choose the best.

S. Seerangan, Superintending Engineer, Public Works, Ground Water Circle, Thanjavur, appealed to the officials and engineers of the lien departments, who took part in the workshop, to sensitise the masses to the proper utilisation of the Agniyar basin, which he said was rich in groundwater and surface water.

Booklet released

Mr. Louis John released a booklet on ‘water resources planning and management in the Agniyar basin,’ handing over the first copy to Mr. Seerangan.

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