Coimbatore : Union Minister of State for Water Resources Arjun Meghawal today exhorted corporates and NGOs to come forward and support in cleaning local water bodies.

Several companies, corporates and association had come forward to clean the Ganga and the Yamuna rivers, Meghawal said during an interaction with NGOs and farmer bodies on water conservation.

He said big companies and NGOs should also support local bodies in preventing drainage water being released into lakes and ponds.

Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation was granted funds under the Smart City project by the Centre and should be utilised to protect and improve the conditions of lakes.

“The Centre is implementing Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY) to protect groundwater resources and inspection will be carried out in Coimbatore to check whether the scheme was properly implemented, Meghawal said.

On the Anamalaiaru and Nallaru water scheme in the district pending for the last five decades, the Minister said he heard about the scheme only now.

The Centre would take efforts to implement the scheme based on the agreement, signed between Tamil Nadu and Kerala during 1960s’, which would benefit the farmers in Coimbatore and Tirupur.