At a time when youngsters usually love to hang out at malls or restaurants, a bunch of youngsters in Tiruvannamalai has devoted their time and energy to cleaning up and reviving eight ancient water tanks.

Their efforts of giving a new lease of life to these water bodies in Tiruvannamalai is commendable as these tanks have been lying in a state of neglect for several decades and were being used as a garbage dump.

A group of 20 to 30 youngsters initially joined hands to clean up water bodies in the town and devoted their time every Sunday for the initiative. Soon they were joined by many others and they all had been spending three to four hours for it each Sunday since September 18 last year.

28-year-old M Poova Raghavan, a member of the group said that as a child, he had seen these water tanks brimming with water. However, over the years he was dejected to see the tanks being abandoned and turning into garbage dumping yards. Even drainage was discharged into many of these water bodies. That is when he decided to direct his energies into conserving the water tanks.

When repeated petitions to the local bodies fell on deaf ears, the group of youngsters decided to take the matter into their own hands. They removed 15 to 20 tonnes of waste, including plastic and medical wastes. The youngsters formed a forum called 'Neer Thuli (Water Drop)' to take forward their initiative. Their mission continues to garner strength as they even dug up and restored a tank that was destroyed and levelled.