The decision was arrived
at during the Town Planning Committee meet, held at the Vellore
Corporation office on Thursday. President of the Town Planning Committee
and Councillor of ward 42, G Anbu, in his address, recalled that
Vellore had  better groundwater levels ten years ago,  during the
previous regime of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa between 2001 and 2006.
The Chief Minister had then insisted on the implementation of the
rainwater harvesting system in every building. Following this, Mayor P
Karthiyayini also insisted that officials of Town Planning Section
should strictly monitor the implementation of the system in every
building. Commissioner P Janaki Raveendran had asked the officials to
submit a report after conducting a check on the implementation of
rainwater harvesting systems in all government offices in the city,
within two weeks. Mayor P Karthiyayini said, “As rain is  expected in
the coming days, the Corporation has planned to begin the awareness
campaign on rainwater harvesting systems in the city within a week.
Officials will make a door-to-door visit to houses in every ward and
appreciate owners of buildings in which the rainwater harvesting system
had been followed.

The door-to-door campaign will begin in ward 9
and 12 in the zone 1- Tharapadavedu.” Distribution of pamphlets will
also be carried out during the campaign, she said.

The members of
the committee also complained about the rising number of plots and
buildings being constructed without an approval from the local body.