Pots labelled after major rivers and lakes in the State were lined up, symbolically representing the death of these water bodies. This scene was created by the members of the Tamil Nadu Environment Council (TNEC) here on Tuesday, as a part of their protest demanding a separate ministry for water and water resources' protection. They also want the government to treat river basin-forest-plainscoast as a single ecological unit, manage it and address its problems. People representing different parts of the State spoke about the slow death of the water bodies in their area and questioned the role of the Public Works Department. Meenakshiamma hailing from Dindigul articulated the State was forced to borrow water from neighbouring states. Like Rajas of the yore, the government should concentrate on preserving the existing water bodies instead of allowing the rain water to flow into the sea or allow it to get mixed with drain water. In another line of reasoning, a former professor with Hindu College said if the government could have a separate department for Forests, in spite of having very less forest cover, why not a separate ministry for preservation of water. These people narrate stories of how they have seen their local water bodies going dry. Now these bodies have been encroached, mined and used as a landfill for all items such as e-waste, or sewage drain. L Antonysamy, state convenor, TNEC, said there was no co-ordination between the various departments such as PWD, TWAD, Pollution Control Board, Agricultural Department, Fisheries Department, Forest Department and Industries Department with respect to water usage and water conservation. He also deplored indiscriminate supply of water to industries, permission for using water by soft drinks company, and no control over the level of letting out chemicals into the water through use of fertilisers or by industries.