CHENNAI: Hordes of school-children in four queues went on a rally from the Corporation school in CIT Nagar, Saidapet on Tuesday as part of the Metro Water’s continuing program to raise awareness about rainwater harvesting in the city.
This was after the Mayor of Chennai, Saidai Duraiswamy explained the working of the rain water harvesting model set up on a special Matador vehicle to the school-children. He was accompanied by the local MLA VP Kalairajan, Councillor RC Arumugam, managing director of CMWSSB B Chandramohan and executive director N Sandeep.
The Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) will conduct this drive in all the 200 wards of the city. Celebrities have been roped in for a better reach for this campaign; yesteryear comedian Senthil was part of the function today.
According to sources, top ranking officials of the Metro Water decided that strict implementation of rain water harvesting measures were necessary to augment the water needs of the city which is dependent on the Veeranam tank, Krishna river and desalination plants.
“Over six lakh homes and 35,000 commercial buildings in the city will be inspected to check their readiness before the monsoon arrives. In addition to this, inspectors will notify compliant structures with a sticker,” he said.
Another official of Metro Water said that buildings which have not installed RWH structures might be penalised by disconnecting their water or sewer connections. “They will be given seven days to complete the procedure,” she said.
As the bevy of government officials made an exit, the school children rallied through the narrow streets of the area past awed shopkeepers. Here’s the irony. Most were thrilled at being part of an awareness drive even though they weren’t aware if their own school had an RWH installation.