Rainwater harvesting

Halanayanahalli- off Sarjapur road is like many other parts of the city depends on groundwater for water needs. Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Center (KSNDMC) has put up a weather station at the Halanayakanahalli Gram Panchayat Office. We obtained the rainfall data from KSNDMC and here are the results... 878.5 mm from April to October 2015. Wonder, how much the total would be if November rainfall data is added.   Month Rainfall (mm) Rainfall days Highest rainfall event (mm) April 111.5 12 28.5 May 73.5 10 20 June 120 18 44.5 July 55.5 12 29 August 186.5 15 45.5 September 171.5 12…

Renuka School is right next to Kaikondrahalli Lake (Off Sarjapura Road). Their deep borewells stopped yielding water quite some time back and they relied on tankers for water. About 2 years back they dug an open well about 15 feet deep, struck water and started using that water for keeping toilets clean. The water was just about sufficient in quantity and not of great quality for washing vessels (mid-day meals). BIOME then implemented a RWH system which also recharges their well. Having seen the potential of the shallow aquifer, they have dug 2 more shallow wells in the past 2…

Do you enjoy making motion pictures? Here is a chance to get rewarded for it too. The International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA) is happy to launch its annual competition The Raindrops Geneva Award 2015. The Raindrops Geneva Award is a worldwide art competition by IRHA since 2007, to increase global awareness of rainwater harvesting. Held every other year, the competition chooses a different art form each time, such as posters, photos, videos. This year IRHA invites artists for submissions for “The Best Video on the Advantages of Rainwater Harvesting: Raindrops Geneva Award 2015”. Entries should be based on one of three different themes and the best artistic works,…

In recent years there has been a lot of talk about how Bangalore will run out of water soon. I find that strange, in a city where we get as much rain as piped water supply, and in a region with an abundance of water bodies. We could easily create one more Cauvery - and that would be enough to sustain the next 10 million people added to the metropolitan area, not just in Bangalore, but in surrounding towns and cities too - if we simply did all the right things. 1. Watershed improvement and local supply from the region’s…

Consider this. Bengaluru is the first city in India to drink treated water. Bangalore has the highest density of borewells. It is home to 4 lakh borewells; India has about 30 million across the country. Bangalore has the largest number of Sewage Treatment Plants; this includes those that are functional and nonfunctional. And this. Bangalore was once home to over 900 lakes and tanks. Today the number stands at a meagre 200. Bangalore is likely to be the first city in India that will hit critical ceilings on water availability. There is a possibility that Bangalore will have to be…

Current scenario of water availability in Bangalore seems to be grim with ground water almost over and tanker mafia twisting our arms. Last year’s indication of dry weather prompted our apartment to find out an easy way of collecting rainwater as a proper rainwater harvesting system was not made initially. Zephyr Block of Suncity Apartments, Ibblur, thought of using the flat roofs of the building to collect rainwater. Roof rainwater pipes were attached to a main big pipe and then to a small tank. The initial water collected in the small tank and after a while the clean water starts…

  'We never know the worth of water till the well is dry'.                                                                                   - Thomas Fuller, English Historian Bangalore is facing a water crisis like never before. Our lakes are polluted. Several of them have been built over. More than half of the city’s drinking water comes from 150 km away - 35% of this water is lost due…

Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA) had planned to commemorate World Water Day at Allalasandra Lake on 29th March, through a drawing/ painting competiton on the theme 'Water', as reported earlier.  The event was well attended, with the participation of more than 150 children from the government schools in Yelahanka and Allalasandra. Winners of the competition, would be presented their prizes in their respective schools in the week ahead.   After the competition, Ms Anna, a researcher from Russia who is currently doing a project with the Water Literacy Foundation headed by Mr Ayyappa Masagi took over. She showed the children shown short…

This fortnightly newsletter is shared by the citizen group bellandur-forum@googlegroups.comIbblur lake revival back on track   The Bangalore Urban district office, headed by the Tahasildar (South) conducted an eviction drive from March 04 to March 05 to clear encroachments on government land around the Ibblur Lake, as per the latest survey map.    Some under construction buildings and portions of existing commercial buildings, parts of boundary walls of residential complexes (Sobha Garnet & Suncity) etc. were demolished as part of the drive to reclaim Lake land after due notifications were given to the concerned parties. The BDA has committed to resume…

Were you among those who frequently complained during summer- “Oh! This is the hottest summer I have ever seen..”? True. Rain gods weren’t kind on the city last summer. The increased demand for water had shot up the water price in the market. Now it is a great relief that our water problem is gone. Rains have brought down the temperature and we, until the next summer, tend to forget all the inconveniences we had during the last summer. It is essential to wake up before the situation goes out of control again and a severe water crisis arises in…