Rainwater harvesting

The monsoon rains are delayed this year. But by sheer coincidence, BBMP’s rainwater harvesting plans of last year remain unimplemented, almost as if the monsoons were granting their own extension to BBMP, ominously. What’s worse, a Citizen Matters inquiry revealed that the city’s accounts department declined to release funds due to the engineers’ lack of interest. Bengaluru faces a shortage of 410 MLD (megalitre water per day) of water. The average rainfall here is 923 mms within a geographical area of 800 sq kms.  It is in this context by seeing the potential of RWH, BBMP made implementation of rainwater…

With the city’s growing water woes, rainwater harvesting has come into focus time and again. It was also made compulsory in Bangalore by law. The BWSSB (Amendment) Act passed in August 2009, states that every owner or occupier of a building having a sital area of 2,400 sqft and above, or every owner who proposes to construct a building on a sital area of 1,200 sqft and above, should install rainwater harvesting structures. Following the law and various awareness exercises conducted in the city, it appears that RWH installation pace has picked up much more compared to earlier years. The…

Last year, BBMP initiated a plan to install Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) pits in roadside drains, parks etc,. to improve ground water levels. Rs 30 crore was approved for installing pits across the city, from emergency funds. Emergency funds are allocated as per BBMP Commissioner’s discretion, and is separate from funds specifically given for RWH in the budget. But going by BBMP’s plans, much of this amount might simply be wasted. An RWH pit built along a drain in 27th Main, Jayanagar 9th Block. File Pic The project is supposed to be implemented as per the design made by RWH expert…

There is no area in Bangalore today where rainwater directly seeps into the ground except a few parks like Lalbagh and Cubbon Park. Almost all roads are cemented or tarred.  Natural lakes and ponds have become foundations for huge residential apartments and commercial complexes. Rain harvesting pit in JayanagarBBMP has miserably failed in managing rainwater. The idea of having a 12 feet deep pits reinforced with concrete rings in storm water drains is good but is shabbily executed in Jayanagar.BBMP officials should have ensured that the rainwater enters the drain and reaches the rainwater harvesting pit.  If this exercise was…

As I write this, I hear the noise of yet another borewell being dug on my street. This is the ninth one since December 2011; all within a radius of less than half kilometre, in Kalyan 1st block, HRBR Layout. This is happening at a time when the newly formed Karnataka Ground Water Authority is trying to gather force.45 houses in HRBR layout were surveyed informally for this piece. Ground water levels, availability of corporation water, implementation of rain water harvesting (RWH) are some of the things that were looked at. What I found out could be the reality across…

The layout has 23 wells with an average holding capacity of 4000 litres each. We have been recharging 4.5 million litres into the ground with rainwater harvesting, with about 50 rainy days in a year. Ferns Paradise is a 48 acre layout, in Whitefield, consisting of around 300 residential plots. The residents are completely dependent on groundwater. Realizing the importance of having a sustainable water resource, the WMC, constituted by the Layout’s Resident Welfare Association (RWA) comprising people passionate about water conservation - Babita Saxena, Radhica Kanniganti and Rajesh Thakkar. The WMC has made it mandatory for all the new…

Bangalore-based Environment Support Group was given the 2012 UN-Water "Water for Life" Best Practices Award for it unprecedented legal work on protection of Bangalore's lakes. ESG's trustee and coordinator Leo Saldanha received the award at a ceremony held at the headquarters of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, at Rome on 22nd March, World Water Day. As some readers may already know, ESG has been on a major initiative for several years to protect Bangalore's lakes. Its litigation work has led to direct supervision of local government protection efforts by the Karnataka High Court itself. Leo Saldanha (right), Coordinator, ESG,…

No Cauvery here: In the backdrop is the Army Welfare Housing Organisation's towering 1000-plus flat community under construction, opposite Chaithanya Samarpan, off the Whitefield Hoskote Road. Samarpan's security entrance is in foreground. Both communities don't have BWSSB connections and rely tanker and borewell water currently. Pic: Subramaniam Vincent. Some of the residential and commercial complexes in the peripheral Whitefield area of Bengaluru are likely to see better times. They will get water supply once the second phase of Hoodi reservoir is completed, probably by August or September this year, an official with BWSSB has said. Rapid growth, no water Two…

Politicians irrespective of their party line shared their concerns about looming water scarcity that is fast approaching Bangalore and pledged their commitment in support of the action plan prepared by two city NGOs. The Centre for Policies and Practices (CPP) and Bangalore Environment Trust (BET) presented their plan at a conference on "Bangalore's water famine 2020 A ticking time bomb" held on 29 January at Gandhi Bhavan. Pic: The event organised by the Centre for Policies and Practices and the Bangalore Environment Trust. Pic: Kishore S U. CPP and BET have proposed a detailed action plan to address water scarcity…

Residents of 4th Block and 5th Block Jayanagar, Bangalore have written to Dr V S Acharya, Minister for Higher Education, and S Suresh Kumar, Minister for BWSSB on their problems with BWSSB's rules on Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) and the deadline of December 31st. They write: Dear Sir,We would like to bring the following facts to your notice, and request that you use your good offices to safeguard the interests of the general public of Bangalore City.As we all know, Bangalore Development Authority has obtained the legislative sanction to allot sites to all residents of Bangalore who have paid the value in…