Tiruvannamalai gets best district award for rural development
The Hindu
1,121 ponds set up on private farmlands in 541 specially selected village panchayats
Chief Minister M. K. Stalin handed over the Best Collector Award for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department to Tiruvannamalai Collector B. Murugesh on the concluding day of the three-day conference of district collectors in Chennai on Saturday. According to a press release, the award, which comprises a memento and a certificate, has been given in recognition of the best performance in implementing rural development and panchayat raj schemes in Tiruvannamalai district. Among major rural development schemes implemented in the district, creation of the most number of farm ponds in 30 days; continuous employment for workers, mainly women under MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme). Each farm pond — 72 feet long, 36 feet wide and 5 feet deep — costs ₹1.78 lakh. Each pond can hold 3.64 lakh litres of water thereby helping in recharge of local wells besides assuring water for cultivation during summer. The district administration has set up 1,121 such ponds on private farmlands in 541 specially selected village panchayats. Together, these 1,121 ponds can hold a total of 40.69 crore litres of water, the release said.