Mumbai: Rainwater harvesting can be an
answer to the water crisis in the metropolis, but the civic
body says the actual implementation of the technique has been
less than encouraging.
Only 50 per cent of the queries received from
residents by the municipal corporation get translated into
actual implementation of the technique, officials said.
"Since last year and half, enquiries about rainwater
harvesting have shot up. We receive more than ten calls a day.
In fact, the number shot up last month when we got about 18-20
calls a day," Suprabha Marathe, Chief of the Rain Water
Harvesting Cell, MCGM, said here.
Under the technique, the rainwater falling on rooftops
is collected and stored in tanks, trenches and borewells.
"As rainwater gets wasted harvesting is the best way
to conserve water and use it for non-potable purposes,"
Marathe explained.
In 2002, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai
(MCGM) had made it mandatory for the new buildings, having a
plot area of 1,000 sq mt, to have rainwater harvesting
facility. By 2007, the same provision became mandatory to
buildings having a plot area of 300 sq mt and above.
"We have adopted a strict rule where the building
proposal department will give nod only to those who have made
facilities for this (rainwater harvesting). Or else, the
builder will not get the occupational certificate."
PTI
