The Raintree Hotel, Anna Salai, organised a learning session for its employees on ‘Self Reliance of Water’, as part of World Environment Day celebrations. The event highlighted the need to follow rain water harvesting in the city on Wednesday. Indukanth S Ragade of Raincentre shared the various simple techniques that can be implemented to harvest water. “Chennai is rain rich but is frequently water starved,” he said, during his powerpoint presentation. He quickly added that the city also lacked storage reservoirs.
Ragade added that one had to depend on sources within one’s premises and that was where the dug wells have to be revived.
“It is the insurance for future. As per the law enacted in the year 2003, everybody should have a provision for rain water harvesting, but most don’t have it. If the yearly 1.27 metre of rainfall is collected, we will get enough water,” he pointed out.
Screening various photographs of techniques used to save rain water, he explained how dug wells could be used to save water and encouraged the audience by adding that such wells could be kept even in the car park area. He also suggested that pipes connecting the sump to the terrace can also be a way of saving rain water for other purposes.
If one cannot come up with a dug well, minor changes to the borewell could help conserve the water.
Water traps on the ground near the entrance of an apartment complex or an individual house was also an innovative way of tapping rainwater.
“I have personally revived many dug wells in the city. Once you start shallow water table, you can sustain it,” Ragade added. He also discussed about recycling used water through canna plants and banana trees.