Kanyakumari district is dotted with ponds which acts as the
core of agricultural activity. Built in times immemorial these once used to be
renovated every year by the user communities. This practice was abandoned in due
course and many of these got filled or abandoned. Restoration of ponds under
Namakku Name scheme was started in Kanyakumari in 1998-99 when the Kanyakumari
temple tank teppakulam was taken up. This received wide publicity and popular
support. This followed a series of demands from various groups for restoration
of ponds, all under Namakku Name. In all more than twenty ponds have been
restored till April 2001 and more demands are coming in. This is to play crucial
roles in the water balance of the district. Work on Kanyakumari temple
teppakulam was undertaken after its being abandoned for almost three decades.
The feeder canals of the irrigation network from Pechiparai had almost
disappeared under sands. These were dug up, the pond filled with waste, garbage
and wild growth renovated and water filled in the huge tank. A festival crowd
reached the tank for bathing after its being filled. However the problem of
seepage the pond being close to the sea and large number of lodges nearby
drawing water from the nearby places there is problem of the pond getting dry
after a span of time. 
Another major tank taken up was the Muttom kulam which was provided with an
intake water pipe from a nearby water source making it perennial. Large number
of people crowd the restored pond in a coastal area. The Krishnankoil temple
tank, again centuries old, was restored with lot of difficulty as the feeder
canal to the tank within the Nagercoil town limits got filled with sewage and a
new pipeline had to be laid to bring water to the pond. Some of the works were
taken up in collaboration with NGOs and many others with the support of the
local Panchayats.