Buildings do not have rainwater structure and residents have failed to maintain RWH structures
A government building which does not have proper rainwater harvesting facility. -DC
Chennai: The rainwater harvesting (RWH) movement in Tamil Nadu started in 2001, but after 14 years, the project has reached saturation point. According to sources, at least 20 per cent of government buildings do not have rainwater structures and ecologists complain that residents fail to maintain RWH structures.For instance, the total number of buildings coming under town panchayats is 23,92,457 buildings, of which only 22,94,342 have rainwater harvesting facilities, the remaining 98,115 going without RWH structures.
The scenario is better in the town panchayat department. Compared to other government departments, the scenario is bleak and there is no concrete data, sources said, adding that the Ripon Buildings, housing the city’s civic headquarters, has RWH structures, but as the building is under repair and maintenance for the past four years, the RWH structures are worn out and not maintained.
Alandur municipality was one of the first local bodies to implement rainwater harvesting structures as a mandatory provision to obtain new building plans. But, now, the project has lost steam as engineers do not inspect and examine existing RWH structures, alleged former Alandur municipal chairman R.S. Bharathi.“The rainwater harvesting movement was launched in 2001 and is a brainchild of ‘Amma’. It had tremendous impact in recharging the groundwater table in suburban Chennai and there were visible signs of groundwater table recharging in Pallavaram, but in the recent years, the movement has lost its vigour,” admits Pallavaram MLA P. Dhansingh, who was also Pallavaram municipal chairman.
“As a public representative, I will insist that municipal engineers re-examine the existing rainwater harvesting programme and ensure that they implement it,” he added.Periodical inspections by field engineers and a dedicated department or a team of officials will help government regain its lost control over rainwater harvesting programmes, opined Mr R. Govindaraj, joint general secretary, Exnora International.
However, a government official denied that the RWH programme had hit a speed-breaker. Besides residential RWH projects, massive desilting and canal strengthening works have been carried out over an extent of 6,286.84 acres in the past two years. Between 2011 and 2014, projects worth '105 crore were executed to improve water bodies and recharge groundwater. Attaining 100 per cent coverage of RWH structures is a herculean task, as demolition of old buildings and construction of new ones are constantly changing the landscape, the official added.
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