Helpline for Rain Water Harvesting

This follows an agreement inked recently between the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST) and the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).
The helpline is 23348840, which has started functioning a couple of days back and two engineers of the KSCST are taking calls. They provide residents with the numbers of designated plumbers and contractors to put in place rainwater harvesting structures. “The engineers would also make spot visits in case of requests from citizens,”  a top source said.

 The agreement between the two parties is for a three-year period, he added.  “The existing number is expected to be operational for atleast ten days. The Council has asked BSNL for fancy numbers and multiple lines, when provided the same, these numbers will become the helpline numbers,” he added.  
BWSSB Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu will be inaugurating the full-fledged helpdesk anytime after November 11.

“This is a temporary location for the helpdesk and it would be shifted to Jayanagar in a year’s time, where a comprehensive theme park on RWH is being built,” an offcial said.

The existing helpline (23348840) has been printed along with the water bill provided to consumers for the month of October.  “Apart from goading people to go in for RWH, we have urged them to call up the KSCST number for any assistance,” the source said.

Exhaustive training on RWH has been provided for plumbers and contractors of BWSSB in phases.


RWH compulsory from today

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) will become mandatory in all old and new buildings in the City from November 1. A period of nine months will be provided to citizens to ensure its implementation. The rule will be applicable for both commercial and residential structures. In the case of existing buildings, it is mandatory for buildings of 60x40 dimensions and above. In the case of new buildings, it will be mandatory for buildings of 30x40 dimensions and above, said Chief Engineer (Maintenance), BWSSB, Venkatraju.