A boost to rainwater harvesting

By Feroze Ahmed

CHENNAI, AUG. 18. The budget (2001-2002) has come as a boost for Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) activists. Builders, residents, owners, activists and NGOs alike have welcomed the Government announcement today to enforce RWH.

``Existing town planning regulations will be suitably amended and enforced to ensure that all private, public and government buildings met roof-top RWH requirements,'' the Finance Minister, Mr. C. Ponnaiyan, said in his budget speech.

``This is the first time the Government has allocated funds specifically for rainwater harvesting. If implemented immediately, the water problems of the City will be solved within three years,'' says Mr. M. N. Mitra, Managing Trustee, TRY Charitable Trust, an NGO specialising in RWH.

``RWH definitely has an immediate benefit,'' says Mr. S. Krishnamurthy, a private RWH contractor and proprietor, Prasad Homes. ``Continuous rains for one hour can add enormous quantities to the ground level from an open roof-top of about 500 to 1,000 sq.ft.''

Recognising the benefits of RWH in augmenting receding water levels, the Government has also decided to launch massive awareness campaigns to promote the cause.

Even now, awareness of the need for RWH is not lacking, thanks to initiatives taken by the Metrowater Board and activists. These efforts have, however, not succeeded in convincing builders and residents into actually implementing the system.

Most campaigns, while focusing on a macro-level need for RWH, fall short on emphasising the immediate benefits to the residents. Exaggerated quotations by contractors too force owners and residents avoid RWH.

Activists insist that any awareness drive should also elaborate on the related benefits of RWH like improvement in the quality of groundwater. The campaigns should also elaborate on the different methods to be implemented according to the structures and the geological patterns of the area, they say.

Residents of Temple View Apartments in Thiruvanmiyur, a 25- apartment complex, implemented RWH in their building about four years ago. ``The groundwater level is now about 20 feet, the hardness has been reduced and there is no discolouration as was the case before,''says Mr. Mitra, president of the residents' association.

The cost for installing RWH structures in a similar building will cost only about Rs.15,000.

The Government has laid emphasis on rooftop harvesting, but this covers 60 per cent of a plot area, while the remaining 40 per cent can also be utilised, points out Mr. R. Jeyaraj, a RWH expert associated with the Rotary Club of Madras Central.

A regular gutter in front of the building or at strategic catchment points, connected to baby wells or percolating pits, will ensure that all the water that falls on the building premises is harvested.

However, despite all the initiatives, the greatest impediments to RWH have been resistance by builders and a general lack of direction.

Presently, there are many instances where the method of implementation negates the efforts taken. ``There are many examples where RWH pipes from the roof are connected to the drainage,'' says Mr. Jeyaraj.

Even structures put up by the Chennai Corporation have failed, as in Panagal Park, T.Nagar.

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