BENGALURU: Rainwater harvesting is still not a success although the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) made it compulsory in 2009. Only a small fraction of structures have adopted it until now.
Initially, nine months time was given for the people to adopt the system. Following repeated extensions, in 2011, BWSSB decided to impose penalties on those who didn’t fall in line. Kemparamaiah, engineer in-chief of BWSSB, said, “In some places the architecture wasn’t suitable. Some were low-lying areas and others had no space.”
In 2016, BWSSB imposed a penalty of 25 per cent on water bills for domestic structures which didn’t adopt RWH and 50 per cent for commercial structures. The penalties were increased to 50 per cent and 100 per cent respectively after three months.
As of now, 68,770 buildings have rainwater harvesting as per BWSSB records. In Chennai, where the scheme is considered a success, 22,94,342 buidlings have the system as of 2014.
The fines were first collected in July 2016. Till February, `4.05 crore has been collected as fines.
No takers for treated water
As parts of its efforts to conserve water, BWSSB has set up sewage treatment plants and provides water to many establishments, including Kempegowda International Airport, Cubbon Park, Lalbagh, Vidhana Soudha and Nehru Planetarium. However, there is scope for many other establishments to use this water.
Kemparamaiah said that while there are enough STPs to generate 70 MLD (million litres of water per day), there is requirement for only 15-20 MLD.
“We’re marketing it and are ready to give water. But many places don’t have dual piping system in place. Apartments can use this water and so can the 1,600 parks which come under the corporation’s ambit,” he said.