Building bylaws not adhered to

Building bylaws not adhered to
Monday July 7 2008 10:37 IST

N R Madhusudhan

BANGALORE: Five years after the government amended building bylaws, making rainwater harvesting mandatory for all new constructions on plots measuring over 200 sq mts, with a plinth area of over 100 sq mts, the scheme is yet to take off, because of the apathy of building owners and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP).

Few buildings constructed since 2003 have rainwater harvesting facilities. Only 16 government buildings, including Vikas Soudha and Vidhana Soudha, M S Building and the Legislators Home, have rainwater harvesting facilities in Bangalore. ''We are planning to install rainwater harvesting facilities in 25 government buildings in the next phase,'' said A K Gopalaswamy, BBMP's Engineer-inchief.

The water harvested is used for daily needs, and the surplus is recharged into the ground. ''The BBMP is determined to make rainwater harvesting compulsory for all new structures. We will not issue an occupancy certificate if they fail to set up the facility,'' Gopalaswamy told the Express. In 2003, the government had made rainwater harvesting compulsory for medium-sized buildings, besides making it mandatory to plant at least two saplings in 60x40 ft and above plots, to arrest open soil erosion and rejuvenate the city's depleting groundwater.

The BBMP has made sure that 86 private high-rise buildings installed the facilities. Some of these building were constructed by big builders like Mantri, Purvankara, Sterling, Renaissance and the Brigade group. A R Shivakumar, scientist at the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology, said that if the rainfall is normal, 2,50,000 litres of water can be harvested on a 60x40 ft site.