Students rally for rainwater harvesting

More than 500 students took part in a rally to create awareness about rainwater harvesting in Adyar and Manali on Saturday.

The Adyar rally was flagged off by Velachery MLA M K Ashok, while in Manali it was flagged off by zonal committee chairman Thanga Sivam.

A Metro Water spokesman said that the campaign was part of a drive to create awareness among the people on the importance of rainwater harvesting.

The campaign comes at a time when the ground water level in Chennai has dipped by 0.6 metres due to lack of rain and heavy extraction of ground water in the past one year. The city currently has 7.20 lakh buildings and an estimated eight lakh rain water harvesting structures.

The rainwater harvesting structures have the potential to charge 60 per cent of the ground water.

All Metro Water offices in various parts of the city are conducting awareness campaigns. 

Apart from that, officials are also conducting checks on new buildings for rainwater harvesting structures.

Rainwater harvesting is the process of augmenting the natural filtration of rainwater into the underground formation by artificial methods. There are various methods of rainwater harvesting. The water can be collected from the roof of the house or building and can either be stored in a tank or diverted to an artificial recharge system. This method is less expensive and very effective.

Currently, rainwater harvesting is a prerequisite for plan approvals for new buildings. Even existing structures have been mandated to build the structures.