Thiruvananthapuram: It was the harsh summer this month, which prompted Fousia Ibrahim to look around for other sources of water. Two weeks ago, she got a groundwater recharge mechanism ready at her place. Ever since there have been three rains – but not enough to cause a dramatic change in the water level.
But there is hope in the air. “I will recommend it to my neighbours, if there is a noticeable difference,” she says. All houses in her lane, Fathima Colony, have been getting only a trickle at night. “KWA officials immediately sent in tankers. However my kitchen garden was wilting away,” she says.
She came across a book on rainwater harvesting, and contacted Communication and Capacity Development Unit, Water Resources Department. “I wanted details about rainwater harvesting, but learnt that since I had an open well, I could collect the water and send it to the well,” she says.
Water from her 600 sq ft terrace collects in a 300-litre filtering tank and is directed to the well. “They said the mechanism would cost me just '6,000. But I spent Rs 10,000 to make the work look nicer,” she says.
Water from the first rain cannot be collected. “This water too has been directed to the earth, as I was told it will enrich groundwater levels. It passes through soil and coconut husk ash,” she says. Those with an open well who would like to do groundwater recharge, can contact CCDU Director V Subhash Chandra Bose at 98475-47881.
