Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Wednesday chaired a review meeting at the Secretariat in Chennai with ministers and officials regarding granting permission for desilting of reservoirs for the welfare of farmers and potters.

According to an official release, Tamil Nadu has 40,000 lakes and ponds under the control of the water resources, rural development and panchayat raj departments. Before the onset of Northeast Monsoon, the silt deposited in these water bodies will be removed and provided free of cost to farmers, potters and for domestic use. This will also help in increasing the storage capacity of the reservoirs.

Farmers and potters have been asked to take advantage of this opportunity and remove silt free of cost under the supervision of officials of the concerned departments. They can register and apply through tnesevai. tn.

gov. in and permission will be given by the concerned tehsildars within 10 days of the application, the release said.

To ensure effective implementation of the scheme, district collectors were asked to publish the list of lakes and ponds for the year 2026-2027 in the district gazette. They were also directed to monitor the implementation as per the existing rules and guidelines.

Rural Development and Water Resources Minister N. Anand, Finance Minister K. A.

Sengottaiyan, Chief Secretary M. Sai Jumar and other senior government officials were present during the meeting.