Politicians show the way to save water

Politicians show the way to save water
S Lalitha, Bangalore, Oct 22, DH News Service:

City’s eminent citizenry are to lead Bangaloreans in adopting rainwater harvesting (RWH), which is set to become mandatory for new buildings from November 1.


Early this week, the infrastructure for RWH has been completed in six sprawling locations. Apart from contributing towards saving water, a precious resource, the objective is to serve as a role model to the public at large.

The bungalows and offices where RWH will be installed are the CM’s home office ‘Krishna’, his official residence, ‘Anugraha’ and the Assembly Speaker’s residence ‘Kaveri,’ all on Kumara Krupa Road. Other locations are Chief Minister’s home on Crescent Road, Chief Secretary’s home on Palace Road and that of Opposition leader Siddaramaiah’s residence in Jayamahal Extension. The Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology has designed the RWH structures and BWSSB has been entrusted with installing pipes and tanks.

However, an inaugural function to announce this is still in the offing. “At ‘Krishna’ pipes have been installed to collect water from a roof top measuring 279 sq mts. With this rainwater equivalent to 2,83,000 litres can be saved annually. Two high density polyethylene tanks have been put up, each of which can collect rainwater upto 2,000 litres. Water will then be diverted towards washing, car cleaning and for use in toilets. Excess water will flow towards a recharge well,” said a top BWSSB official.

CM’s home on Crescent Road has a single tank into which water will flow from a roof area measuring upto 75 sq mts. However, at Opposition leader’s residence, an underground sump (10,000 litres capacity) has been constructed to collect the rainwater in addition to a HDPE tank of 500-litre capacity. Cost involved in installing them ranges between Rs 24,000 and Rs One lakh, said an official.

However, the cost that will be incurred on constructing RWH structures on sites measuring 30x40 would be just Rs 5,000. This consists of creating a percolation pit with sand and jelly in it.

Costs would vary depending on the quality of materials and synthetic tanks used. In total, cost for constructing RWH structures in residences would fall within Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000, an official added.

BWSSB proposes to install rainwater harvesting facilities at its offices and sub-stations within a month, so that the public can understand the concept better.