water opinion
76 B2B Purchase July 2019
I
ndia, which depends almost completely on the
annual monsoons, currently faces the most severe
water crisis in the annals of its known history. A
recent report by NITI Aayog predicted that as many as 21
cities in the country will see the total depletion of their
groundwater by as early as 2020.Even today, our cities run dry like clockwork during
summers. Nevertheless, there is still not enough awareness
about the simple solution of rainwater harvesting in India.
Can we really afford to neglect this straightforward
solution any longer?Cities that Rose to the Challenge
In Bangalore, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage
Board (BWSSB) has mandated that every structure built
on 30x40 sq ft and above and old buildings built on
40x60 sq ft above should install rainwater harvesting. In
case anybody fails to do so, he/she must pay a penalty
every month. Interestingly, despite its annual water woes,
Bangalore gets ample rainfall.There even are some notable success stories. A R Shivakumar,
also known as the city’s ‘Rain Man’ has built a house that is
completely dependent on rainwater harvested during the
rains. His house ‘Sourabha’ in Vijayanagar runs on water
collected in underground and overhead tanks. Shivakumar
has spoken widely on the importance of rainwater
harvesting and has played a big role in the establishment
of the ‘Sir M Visvesvaraya Rainwater Harvesting Theme
Park’ in Bangalore’s Jayanagar area.(Even though Bangalore has taken strong steps to
enforce rainwater harvesting, several studies still
number it - right along with the notorious Cape
Town - among the ‘hot zones’ that may run out of
water sooner rather than later. )
Chennai in Tamil Nadu is among the leaders in
rainwater harvesting and boasts of several successful
examples of water conservation.Rainwater harvesting is compulsory in the city, and
fresh designs for rainwater harvesting structures have
been incorporated into the Tamil Nadu Combined
Development and Building Rules, 2019. As a notable
example, residents of 56 apartments of the Sabari
Terrace Complex in Sholinganallur, Chennai planned,
designed and implemented a rainwater harvesting
structure to collect rainwater on their own terraces.In Delhi, the Ministry of Urban Development and
Poverty Alleviation has made it mandatory for all
new buildings on plots of 100 sq. meters and above
to provide for water harvesting through storing of
water runoff including rainwater.In rural Maharashtra, Shirpur - once an arid,
drought-stricken area - has literally turned green
due to the adoption of rainwater harvesting. Known
as a green district today, Shirpur has - almost solely
through the efforts of its residents - built rainwater
harvesting systems and small dams to cultivate three
to four crops a year.Getting It Done - State Level
Major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore,
Hyderabad as well as tier 2 cities such as Chandigarh,
Indore, Surat and Nagpur do have laws regarding
rainwater harvesting. However, it is not good enough
for such rules existing just on paper. If the concerned
authorities fail to check regularly to ensure their
on-ground implementation, rules for rainwater
harvesting are obviously are toothless.State governments can popularise rainwater
harvesting by launching awareness drives, not just
in urban areas but in rural areas as well. They can
promote rainwater harvesting by incentivising
housing societies that do comply, such as by offering
a rebate on property tax for installing a rainwater
harvesting system, severely penalise societies/
builders who don’t comply.Rainwater harvesting – How long can
India afford to ignore it?