Chennai, Dec 1 (IANS): Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department has commenced survey of 42,000 lakes in the state to identify the water flow areas and increase their storage capacity.

The government has directed the state Water Resources Department (WRD) and the local bodies to conduct an inspection and survey of all the lakes and submit a report at the earliest.

Notably, of the 42,000 lakes in the state, as many as 14,318 are maintained by the state Water Resources Department and 2,700 have reached their maximum capacity.

A senior official of the state Water Resources Department told IANS that it was very important to increase the storage capacity of these lakes to meet the growing drinking water demands of the population.

The state revenue department is also providing all support to the Water Resources Department to identify the encroachments around the water bodies and lakes. A state-level steering committee and district and divisional-level steering committees have been formed to support the revenue department and to provide information on the encroachments.

It may be recalled that several farmers' organisations have already submitted many petitions to the Tamil Nadu government to properly maintain the water bodies and lakes in the state so that the water bodies are abundant in water.

Farmers association leader R. Rajendran from Tiruchi told IANS, "The state has adequate water bodies and lakes and we should maintain these lakes properly to get an uninterrupted supply of water. Lakes and water bodies must be desilted periodically and at least once in two years to retain their storage capacity."

With the state receiving heavy rains in Southwest monsoon, there has been adequate water in almost all water bodies and some touched up to the maximum storage levels. However, encroachments and no proper maintenance have led to many of these water bodies not able to store a proper quantity of water and the survey and assessment of all the 42,000 lakes in the state would lead to an abundance of water for the state.