Collector V Vishnu said as many as 75 tanks were rejuvenated and over a 600-km stretch of stormwater drains desilted as part of the Nellai Neervalam initiative in VM Chatram. The initiative has helped in effectively handling the northeast monsoon and preserving rainwater, he said.

Under the ‘Nellai Neervalam’ scheme, which is being implemented with the participation of the public and private firms for desilting and rejuvenating neglected water bodies, over 100 irrigation tanks had been desilted so far besides strengthening the bunds to avert breaches. Mounds had been created within these water bodies for planting tree saplings and attracting birds throughout the year.

There is a reason why people of the district are so passionate about the Thamirabarani: Tirunelveli’s population of about 1.6 million is largely dependent on the river. The district falls in an agrarian belt dominated by farming activities, which perhaps explains the unique and complex interplay between the Thamirabarani, and a network of inter-linked tanks and waterbodies connected to it.

In 2021, the District Collector of Tirunelveli, Vishnu Venugopal, started Nellai Neervalam, a community engagement and management programme for water security and ecological conservation. It consists of an extensive network of volunteers from the district and brings together departments of the government that otherwise do not talk to each other. There might be a lesson in this for the countrywide Ramsar network.

The district collector of Tirunelveli, Vishnu Venugopal, launched the first phase of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by ATREE on World Rivers Day September 25, 2022. The restoration project is called TamiraSES. The Indian Institute of Human Settlements, Bengaluru and the Consortium for DEWATS Dissemination Society are also knowledge partners in the project. The Thamiraparani is unique in many respects. It is the only perennial river in Tamil Nadu. It originates in the Pothigai Hills of the Western Ghats in Tirunelveli district. The river flows through Tirunelveli and then neighbouring Thoothukudi and ends in the Gulf of Mannar at Punakayil. It thus originates and ends in the same state.

The ongoing water conservation exercises in the district under the Nellai Neervalam (Water Resources of Tirunelveli) scheme to restore neglected water bodies and conserving the Tamirabharani will effectively take the water quality of the perennial river from the now ‘bathing quality’ to ‘drinking quality’ by July 2024, Collector V. Vishnu has said.

Amidst the chanting of ‘saaththuppaattu’ (traditional hymns) by the Kaani Tribes of the Western Ghats, Tirunelveli District Collector V. Vishnu formally launched the massive Tamirabharani cleaning operation for 62 Km – right from Papanasam to Marudhur Check Dam – in the Western Ghats, the birthplace of the perennial river on Saturday.

The initiative, ‘Thooya Porunai; Nellaikku Perumai’ (‘Pure Tamirabharani; Pride of Tirunelveli’), is organised as an integral part of the ongoing ‘Nellai Neervalam’ (Tirunelveli Water Resources) activities, which was launched recently to clean the water bodies in the district to improve irrigation and groundwater table.

District Collector V Vishnu on Wednesday inaugurated the 'Aagayathamarai recycling centre' to generate fertiliser, paper and handicraft materials from the water hyacinth by removing them from the water bodies in the district under the 'Nellai Neervalam' initiative.

Students, volunteers and bird enthusiasts have swung into action cleaning up the water body. It was inaugurated by Tirunelveli Collector V Vishnu under the concept of ‘Nellai Neervalam,’ an initiative of administration primarily aimed at rejuvenation of water bodies and more importantly to protect natural resources.