Defunct RWH unit, stalled clock, mirror official apathy

At a time when experts stress on Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) structures to save and conserve water, the Deputy Commissioner’s office building, which should be an example, has no such facility, mirroring official’s apathy. With the region receiving a good spell of rains, since the past three months, not a single drop of water has been saved.

The DC’s office in Mandya is one of the important heritage buildings of Karnataka. The building was constructed during the administration of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. The Public Works department is maintaining the building and the Nirmithi Kendra has installed the rainwater harvesting unit. But, due to lack of maintenance, the unit is not in working condition.

The government has directed that rainwater should be collected and utilised by the respective office. But, the RWH unit is installed in an unscientific manner, and thus, not a drop of water has been saved so far, complain the people.

Broken pipes

Pipes have been laid to collect water from four corners of the building. The purification is constructed in the basement. There are pipes to supply water to the garden before the DC’s office, but, no water is supplied in them. The Horticulture department officials do not have any information about this. The pipes are broken. The purification unit has not been cleaned since a long time. Most of the employees do not know that the building has a rainwater harvesting unit.

As the RWH is not working, rainwater flows on the roads. Recently, the officials fixed a pipe to release water from the building on to the roads. Instead of fixing a new pipe, the defunct RWH could have been repaired. This shows the lack of will among the officials.

Though the public have brought the issue to the notice of the authorities concerned, no steps have been taken in this regard. Mandya city has been receiving heavy rains since three months, but, not even a drop of water has been saved, allege Water Expert and PES Engineering College lecturer Prasanna Kumar.

Besides, the clock tower on the DC’s office building has stopped functioning since three years. Though it was rectified recently, it has again stopped working.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner M V Venkatesh said, “The Rainwater Harvesting unit will be repaired immediately. The clock was repaired recently. It would be set right soon.”