The Hindu 21.01.2010
Call to create awareness on rainwater harvesting
Staff Correspondent
Manipal: Water conservation expert Shree Padre has said that it is necessary to create more awareness about rainwater harvesting methods among the public. He was speaking at an information camp on “Rainwater harvesting: common man’s success stories” organised by the SyndicateBank here on Wednesday.
Mr. Padre said that forests were natural barriers that stopped rainwater and helped it percolate to the water-table. But rapid deforestation had seen rainwater join rivers and seas directly. At the micro-level, people had little knowledge of the importance of water and were using it recklessly. Drilling borewells where open wells did not have water was wrong. Groundwater should be used only during an emergency. Nearly 1,500 ponds in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts were in a pathetic condition, Mr. Padre added.
Deputy Commissioner P. Hemalatha said that the State Government had launched the “Swarna Jala” scheme to promote rainwater harvesting about five years ago. But this scheme had failed because there were defects in the structures used for rainwater harvesting. While a large number of people had heard about rainwater harvesting, many did not know how to implement it. While there was no water scarcity in Udupi district on the whole, there were some pockets, where sweet water was not available. The district administration was promoting rainwater harvesting in these places. The Tamil Nadu Government had made rainwater harvesting compulsory for all buildings; it may not be long before Karnataka followed suit, Ms. Hemalatha said.
Assistant General Manager of SyndicateBank Vasanth Nayak welcomed the gathering. Deputy General Manager H.N. Vishweshwar presided over the function. Assistant General Manager Jyoti Shenoy was present.
