BENGALURU: A group of like-minded people are working with the civil engineering department from Indian Institute of Science, ATREE (Ashoka Trust For Research in Ecology and the Environment), Geological Society India and Vande Bharatam, an NGO, on a proposal to store underground water at the ward level.
Mohan Kumar, professor, civil engineering department, IISc, said, “One way of disposing excess water or storing treated water is through a system called managed aquifer recharge. It is based on rainwater harvesting where the purpose is to recharge the underground aquifer. We are working on a proposal with several groups to build an underground water storage structure. Treated sewage water can be stored here.”
“Stormwater drains that have a lot of silt usually go into lakes mixed with sewage. Instead, they can be routed to the underground storage system. This system is present in several foreign countries but not in India. Through this, stored water can be supplied to places that are in need of water,” he added.
B H Lokesh, founder of Vande Bharatam, said,” We want to propose this to BBMP. We want to implement it as a pilot in Ward 184, Uttarahalli. The aim is to make Uttarahalli a Cauvery water free ward. We need to stop relying on Cauvery as a city,” Lokesh added.