CM Vijay launched “Eri”, an online portal where NGOs and volunteers can get permission within 15 days to restore lakes and ponds; around one lakh water bodies are listed and five organisations received the first approvals.
CM Vijay launched “Eri”, an online portal where NGOs and volunteers can get permission within 15 days to restore lakes and ponds. Around one lakh water bodies are listed, and five organisations received the first approvals.
Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on 10 November 2026 launched “Eri” (ஏரி, meaning “lake”), a website built by the Water Resources Department, at the Secretariat in Chennai. It lets non-governmental organisations and volunteers apply online for the no-objection certificates (NOCs) they need to restore water bodies.
Many lake and pond restoration projects in Tamil Nadu are funded by companies under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Until now, groups doing this work had to get permission through a long, office-by-office process. The government said Eri is meant to make this simple.
At the launch, the Chief Minister handed NOCs to five organisations:
Ministers S. Ramesh and R. V. Ranjithkumar, Chief Secretary M. Sai Kumar and senior officials attended.
Restored lakes store more rainwater, recharge groundwater and help farmers. By letting volunteers and CSR-funded groups get approvals quickly, the portal is expected to bring more people into saving Tamil Nadu’s water bodies.