Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy Sunday said the territorial administration was seized of the need to implement schemes to conserve water and an action plan was being finalised to implement rainwater harvesting scheme.
Appealing to people to ensure water was judiciously used, he said the government had also decided to desilt water bodies by granting licences through open tender system to contractor.
An action plan was being finalised to conserve water and to implement the rainwater scheme on a war-footing, the Chief Minister told reporters here.
Several villages in the union territory were now facing drought situation for want of rain and farmers were also in distress due to monsoon failure, he said.
He said he had taken up Puducherry's statehood issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the recent Niti Aayog meeting.
Narayanasamy also said during the meeting he had taken up with the Prime Minister the issue of including Puducherry in the fifteenth Finance Commission so the territorial government would get 42 per cent Central grant which was available to the states.