Stressing the need for Bangalore to follow Chennai’s rainwater harvesting (RWH) model, Urban Development Principal Secretary K Jothiramalingam on Thursday said a legislation on RWH was necessary to prevent the City’s water woes in future.

At a workshop on creating awareness on RWH among the City plumbers, he said though the new building bylaws had made it compulsory for newly constructed houses, “it does not cover the other houses”.

Legislation
Bangalore, in a year receives a considerable amount of rainfall and it is extremely important to tap rainwater as groundwater has been depleting over the years.

Legislation on RWH is important, as such harvesting can help groundwater recharge. Further, the BWSSB and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike should take strict action against individual site owners who did not follow the new bylaws, such as not sanctioning water/sewerage supply and road cutting permission.

“Unlike multi-storey apartments, individual 60X40 houses do not require an occupancy certificate from the civic authorities and hence they do not follow the bylaw making RWH facilities mandatory,” he pointed out.

Training in TN
Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board Chairman N C Muniyappa said the Board, apart from organising workshops for its 750-odd plumbers, would also be sending them to Chennai for exposure to the successful RWH methods practised there.

It would also have 50 plumbers as resource trainers to train new plumber-recruits.

The State Government should make provisions for RWH in urban areas like it does in rural areas, where annually Rs 300-500 crore is spent for water harvesting.

Apart from the about 30 per cent of vacant land in the City, on a majority of the stretches of land belonging to Defence and institutions including IISc and IIM-B, rainwater harvesting is yet to be adopted, he said.