BBMP yet to act on rain water harvesting

A High Powered Committee Report set up by the High Court of Karnataka in 2006 to look into the quality of road works in the city had a recommendation on rain water harvesting. It suggested construction of recharge structure for harvesting rain water and recharging ground water by the BBMP at road intersection points.
The lapse in not acting on this recommentation has been brought to the fore in a paper submitted by the former secretary to Government of Karnataka with the Minor Irrigation, Ecology and Environmental Department, Captain Raja Rao.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Raja Rao was critical of the fact that the Government and the Palike have still not taken appropriate action in this regard. “There are nearly 1,000 to 2,000 intersection points, which are away from low-lying areas, for the Palike to set up shallow borewells allowing water to seep through,” he said.
According to the technology suggested, the BBMP will need two borewells on each road at  an intersection. So on an average, the Palike can sink eight borewells with a small structure and a shelter for water to seep through. “It does not need to be too deep. It could be only 5 to 6 meters in depth,” Rao added. According to the former Secretary, the total cost of the borewells at each intersection can be put at Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 only!    
But the officials concerned  in the Palike were clueless about the recommendations made by the High Powered Committee. “We already have a rain water harvesting structure  in each of the BBMP buildings and lake water rejuvenation. The recommendations on the harvesting at road intersections need to be looked into,” said BBMP Chief Engineer, B V Satish.