Project to give facelift to ponds in state

KOCHI: The government has envisaged a project to renovate thousand old ponds across the state, Water Resources Minister P J Joseph has said. As per the project, a pond from each panchayat will be selected for renovation and Rs 44 lakh has been earmarked for it. “The fund for the cleaning and reconstruction of the ponds will be provided  by the  state Water Resources Department,” the minister said after inaugurating the renovation work of the decade-old pond belonging to the Thirunettoor Mahadeva Temple in Maradu municipality.Given the significance of ponds in maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystem, Joseph expressed hope that the move would not only be beneficial to the temples but also to the local residents during the summer months and in maintaining the  ground water level.Excise Minister K Babu, who is also the MLA of the Tripunithura constituency, presided over the function. On the occasion, Babu said that, after renovating ponds in every panchayat, the government is planning to use these ponds for conducting swimming classes for children and students, a move that can help reduce accidental drowning of minors. The minister also said that the renovation work has already been entrusted to a contractor and it is expected to be completed within nine months. The `44 lakh project will restore ponds to a new dimension of 90x60 metres, he said.Superintending engineer, minor irrigation (Ernakulam) T K Indirabhayi presented the report for the renovation work.  Maradu municipal chairman T K Devarajan, vice-chairman Ajitha Nandakumar health standing committee chairman Addul Majeed were also present.