Rainwater harvesting will soon be as popular as solar water heaters: BWSSB Chairman Tushar Girinath
BENGALURU: Implementation of rainwater harvesting (RWH) is considered a long-term measure to meet the city’s water requirements. Though the BWSSB’s enforcement of it has been slow, there is hope that this feature will become as much a norm as solar water heaters.BWSSB Chairman Tushar Girinath said on Monday that the BWSSB was trying to enforce RWH, but were constrained as they did not have the capacity to check individual structures. RWH was made mandatory in 2009, but the civic body began to penalise offenders only in 2016, which is why a very small percentage of structures have installed it.
Non-commercial building owners who do not comply are fined 25 per cent of the water bill up to three months, followed by 50 per cent for next three months and then 100 per cent until compliance. Engineer-in-chief Kempramaiah said, “We have installed an RWH theme park at Jayanagar 5th block, where owners and plumbers can go and take guidance. There is an area-wise list of plumbers on our website.”
In this scenario, there are citizens like A R Shivakumar, Principal Investigator of Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology and IISC scientist, who has not paid a single water bill to BWSSB for over two decades. He relies completely on RWH and other means for water supply. It is no surprise that it was him who wrote the policy and guidelines for making RWH mandatory in the city in November 2009.
Explaining the BWSSB’s approach of delayed enforcement, he said, “It’s a cautious decision. We can’t bring change immediately as people will have an aversion and will revolt against it.”
Shivakumar is optimistic about the increased use of RWH. He drew a parallel with the process of popularising solar water heaters, which took over a decade, and said he expected most houses in Bengaluru to have RWH in eight to ten years. “People are already seeing its benefits because they see that their wells get dried up. In addition, the new buildings will be forced to incorporate it or they will not be given the permission required.
Who will clean Bellandur lake?
Responding to claims by BJP leaders that the Centre had released funds for clean-up of Bellandur Lake, K J George said, “The Central Government has not released even a single rupee for Bellandur lake’s clean-up.” He said about two to three years ago, he had written to the Centre asking for funds, and in their reply they had stated that funds were not available. Union Minister for MHRD Prakash Javadekar too had claimed that the Centre had released funds when he visited Bellandur lake after the lake caught fire recently.