VIJAYAWADA: The government is planning to introduce various steps to save the State from the looming water crisis. As a part of it, the school education department is all set to construct rainwater harvesting pits in all government schools.
At present, a good number of schools already have rainwater harvesting pits. However, the majority of them are not functioning.
According to the officials, there are around 46,000 government schools in the State and instructions would be given to all the district education authorities to start work on rainwater harvesting pits.
The main intention behind the initiative is to save water and teach the students on the water conservation methods. The officials hope that the initiative will at least solve the water problem in the particular school. In fact, in cities like Vijayawada, a few schools rely on water tankers of the municipal corporation for drinking water. In a few schools, there is a scarcity of water even for the basic necessities.
Speaking to TNIE, Commissioner of School Education K Sandhya Rani, said, “Soon we will instruct the schools to construct rainwater harvesting pits on their premises. A few schools already have rainwater harvesting pits. However, most of them are not in working condition. The proposal to set up rainwater pits schools are there for long and we will issue instructions soon.”
On average, every school uses around 500- 600 litres of water every day for drinking, cleaning and for toilets.