State informs HC about steps being taken to add particulars of waterbodies

The State authorities on Thursday advised the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in regards to the improvement of Tamil Nadu Water Resources Information and Management System (TNWRIMS), an internet portal with Decision Support System which was accomplished by Water Resources Department and launched by the Chief Minister on July 3.

The courtroom was listening to a contempt petition filed by advocate R. Manibharathi of Madurai who complained that the sooner courtroom order directing the State to open a devoted web site containing an exhaustive record of all waterbodies in Tamil Nadu with their particulars had not been complied with.

In a standing report, Secretary of the WRD J. Jayakanthan submitted that the tank and the reservoir modules within the TNWRIMS contained details about 92,068 tanks and 127 reservoirs in each Geographical Information System (GIS) and Management Information System (MIS) dashboards.

The portal was now being utilized by all line departments for his or her water resources-related actions with restricted login amenities. The Differential Global Positioning System-surveyed waterbodies’ particulars could be uploaded in a phased method as and when shared by the Director, Department of Survey and Settlement (DOSS).

Director of Survey and Settlement Deepak Jacob, in a standing report, submitted that with the present variety of subject surveyors it could require roughly three years to finish the duty of measuring, validating and importing particulars to the web site. However, with further employees deployment the work may be accomplished in two years, for which efforts have been being made by the division.

The Tamil Nadu e-governance Agency (TNeGA) technical employees uploaded waterbody knowledge making it accessible for public viewing, it was submitted.

In 2024, a Division Bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and B. Pugalendhi had issued a sequence of instructions to the State. It had directed the State to open a devoted web site containing an exhaustive record of all waterbodies in Tamil Nadu

The courtroom had noticed that the web site ought to include related particulars pertaining to waterbodies (together with tanks, lakes, rivers and kanmois), survey numbers, bodily areas, particulars of villages, taluks and districts and extent (each authentic and current). The courtroom had directed that the web site meant for viewing by all ought to be opened in six months.

Since the courtroom route was not complied with, the current contempt petition was filed. The courtroom posted the matter to December 18 for reporting additional progress made.