Key Facts

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay launched the 'Eri' (Tank) online portal, a state-wide digital platform aimed at channelising corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributions directly into restoring traditional waterbodies, historic irrigation tanks, and temple tanks across the state. Managed by the Water Resources Department (WRD), the portal catalogues degraded waterbodies, silt-choked feeder channels, and water structures requiring desilting, allowing private corporations and public enterprises to adopt water rejuvenation works transparently. The initiative aims to enhance rural water security, support agricultural groundwater recharge in drought-prone districts, and revive community participatory tank management.

GK Context

The 'Eri' network forms the historic backbone of Tamil Nadu's traditional tank irrigation system, developed across millennia since the Sangam and Chola eras (such as the Grand Anicut or Kallanai built by Karikala Chola). Under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, eligible companies meeting prescribed financial thresholds (net worth of ₹500 crore, turnover of ₹1,000 crore, or net profit of ₹5 crore) must spend at least 2% of their average net profits of the preceding three financial years on CSR activities. Schedule VII of the Act explicitly recognizes environmental sustainability, ecological conservation, and water rejuvenation as eligible CSR avenues.