HYDERABAD: “Day Zero” is the day when the city would run out of the water, taps would be shut off and people need to stand in a queue to collect their daily water. This is the inevitable future for our city until unless we act now. Hyderabad is one among 21 cities that will run out of groundwater by next year. Whatever lakes that are responsible for groundwater recharge are destroyed, bringing their number from 3,000 in 1970 to 185 lakes.
Even these lakes and water bodies are becoming a cesspool of sewage and industrial effluents, making our groundwater contaminating every day. For any city, major source of water is from Rainwater, Groundwater and Surface water bodies like lakes. We need to harness and protect these resources to save ourselves from water scarcity. But we are letting rainwater into drains, throwing garbage into the lakes. Our clock to Day Zero is clicking and we need to act now for our better future.
But there are few people in Hyderabad who are fighting every front to make our city sustainable. Kalpana Ramesh is one of them. Her journey for the last seven years has been instrumental in saving water in every way possible. Kalpana who believes access to clean water is a basic human right saddened by the tanker culture in Hyderabad. Designer by profession and volunteer with SAHE (Society for Advancement of Human Endeavor), she started her journey from harnessing rainwater in her home to rejuvenating lakes in the city. In her journey, she included every stakeholder from the government to communities. She left no stone unturned in her relentless journey in saving every drop of water. “Reuse, Recharge and Rejuvenate”, this is the mantra in her journey.
Reuse: It all starts from home!
In Hyderabad, most of the people and communities rely on water tankers for their water needs. Water scarcity in cities like Hyderabad is a perpetual problem. fed up by everyday dependence on water tankers, Kalpana decided to harness rainwater in her home through rooftop water Harvesting Technique. She installed a 3,000cc water tanker in her home and channeled rainwater from her terrace into the tank through a basic filtering mechanism. She also started recycling grey water that comes out of her home every day. She slowly stopped relying on tankers and also started to grow potted plants and fruit trees on her terrace with that water. This eco-sensitive house became a model in her community. She started advocating this method to other houses and communities. “Rainwater is the purest form of water we can get. With a simple action, we can harness it. People can easily adapt these methods, all that need is their will to save water.” says Kalpana.
Recharge:
What started as a small initiative of water conservation in her home, grown into a bigger idea of recharging deep aquifers underground by channelling rainwater into defunct bore wells and recharge pits. Groundwater is depleting rapidly in Hyderabad due to various reasons like concrete coverage and delayed monsoon. The environment has a solution for every problem. Lakes acts as natural sinkholes and they have drainage patterns to channel rainwater into these lakes. But due to rampant urbanisation our city became concrete jungle disturbing these patterns and not allowing water to seep into underground.
Kalpana is creating awareness and encouraging communities to dug Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) pits in their premises. These awareness campaigns include teaching people those methods of constructing these pits. In a recent initiative, SAHE along Jawaharlal Nehru Technological Institute (JNTU) conducted a workshop to train 30 plumbers on Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) Methods. These trained plumbers will assist people who want to adapt these RWH methods. “This is a proud moment for SAHE where we are connecting awareness to Action. We are also making people to Geotag locations of their RWH structures for their future maintenance”, says Kalpana Ramesh.
SAHE also started a campaign called “Save 10k bores” to revive defunct borewells by channelling rainwater into them in certain scientific methods. “Over 20 lakhs bore wells are defunct in Hyderabad that is almost 90%”, said Kalpana. She took one step further and started working for the conservation of lakes in the city. Along with SAHE, she started “Live for Lakes” campaign. Their action plan included not only of cleaning premises of lakes but sustainable future plan for rejuvenation of lake. They have recently restored Kudi Kunta lake in Kondapur. “Lakes are our largest catchment for rainwater today. As part of the restoration of this lake, we are mapping drain pattern and catchment. We also formed the first ever registered Lake protection committee for an independent lake first time in the country”, says Kalpana. To prevent Ganesh immersion into water bodies that will contaminate lakes with plaster of Paris and chemicals, SAHE has come up with a campaign called “Plant a Ganesha”, where people can immerse these idols at home that will yield a Plant later.
Kalpana, in her efforts involving every stakeholder and working on every front for sustainable water matrix for Hyderabad. But she believes that change can happen only when each one of us acts towards saving water. She has a message for every one of us, “Be Your Own Water Warrior”.