Chennai: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), in which desilting works in channels are taken up, has not helped in storing water.
Sources said that such scheme was launched a decade ago by the union government and lakhs of workers in all village panchayats in the state are taking this job. Even as such scheme remains as a lifeline for common people in the rural areas, no works relating to water bodies are undertaken by such workers.
According to this scheme, water body related works like clearing vegetation and removing garbage in the canals in the rural parts should be undertaken under the supervision of respective panchayat presidents. Nowadays, works are supervised by special officers (block development officers). “The workers sign in the Nominal Muster Role (NMR) to register their attendance.
Later, they are given some work, after which they leave the place. At least, water will reach tanks and ponds, if workers clear the channels,” said a source.
It is worrisome that when lakhs of people take up works, even a single drop of water could not be stored in the delta region and officials from District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs), who are in-charge of this scheme, should wake up from deep slumber to save water, added the source.
