more-in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has emphasised the role of residents’ associations in water conservation and in overcoming water shortage in the city. He was inaugurating a seminar organised by the Federation of Residents Associations Thiruvananthapuram (FRAT) on ‘Smart City, Light Metro projects and other development activities in the city’ on Friday, as part of its 23rd anniversary celebrations. Referring to the acute water shortage in the State capital recently, Mr. Vijayan said the region was facing a similar situation now owing to deficient monsoon. “Under the circumstances, we might have to adopt precautionary measures to optimise the use of available water. The Haritha Keralam Mission has undertaken steps to preserve and renovate waterbodies,” he said. He said large sections of the public were yet to undertake rainwater harvesting. “The time has come for proactive steps such as diverting rainwater to wells and setting up rainwater harvesting pits. Besides, the need to avoid wasteful usage of water cannot be stressed enough,” Mr. Vijayan said. The Chief Minister said preliminary works for the ?4,219-crore Light Metro project that would connect Technocity and Karamana had begun. The works on other major projects including the proposed expansion of Technopark, Vizhinjam seaport project, biodiversity museum, Kovalam-Kollam waterway, restoration of Parvathy Puthanar canal were in various stages of development.

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