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Water Supply

Rainwater harvesting to be mandatory in Bangalore

Friday, 24 July 2009 05:32 administrator
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The Hindu 24.07.2009

Rainwater harvesting to be mandatory in Bangalore

Special Correspondent

Assembly passes Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage (Amendment) Bill 2009

 

Tamil Nadu has already made rainwater harvesting compulsory across that State

Owners of buildings who fail to install such structures will be penalised

Bangalore: Rainwater harvesting has been made mandatory in the Bangalore agglomeration with the Legislative Assembly on Thursday giving its approval to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage (Amendment) Bill 2009.

Rainwater harvesting in Bangalore will be compulsory nine months after the legislation takes effect.

Owners of existing buildings who fail to install a rainwater harvesting structure will be penalised. The BWSSB will install the structure and recover the cost from the owner or the tenant of the building as the case may be. For buildings on smaller sital areas, the Government is contemplating bringing forth community rainwater harvesting, although that is not part of the legislation that was ratified by the House.

Minister for BWSSB and Information Technology, Katta Subramanya Naidu, who piloted the Bill, said rainwater harvesting would be compulsory for all residential, commercial and industrial premises. While it would be applicable for all new structures constructed on a sital area measuring 1,200 sq ft and above (should be incorporated in the building plan), in the case of the existing structures it will be applicable for those built on a sital area of 2,400 sq ft and above.

The entire Opposition lauded the Government for bringing forth the Bill. As Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, S. Suresh Kumar, put it “all of us know the cost of water but not the value of water. It is time we bring in measures to harvest rainwater which will also help in improving the water table. Two decades ago, underground water was available at around 150 ft in Bangalore and today it is around 700 ft.”

As per the amendment “every owner shall provide for a rainwater harvesting structure within nine months from the date of implementation of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage (Amendment) Act 2009 in a building having a sital area of not less than 1,200 sq ft in such a manner with such conditions as may be provided in the regulations, failing which the board may cause such rainwater harvesting structure and recover the cost from the owner or occupier as arrears of land revenue as the case may be. It is considered necessary to provide for making it mandatory to build rainwater harvesting structures by households in order to preserve the groundwater”.

With reference to the suggestions of the Opposition that the Government should choose to amend the Karnataka Municipalities Act and the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act to ensure that rainwater harvesting was compulsory across the State, Mr. Suresh Kumar said the Government wound amend the two Acts in the near future. Tamil Nadu had already made rainwater harvesting compulsory across that State and “we will also follow suit”.

Mr. Naidu said the BWSSB authorities were finding it difficult to supply drinking water to all residents although efforts were afoot to make available as much water as possible. The formation of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike with the addition of a number of adjoining villages apart from seven city municipal councils and a town municipal council had compounded the problem.

He said the BWSSB would shortly commission a rainwater theme park at Jayanagar and building owners could visit the park to learn on the various types of rainwater harvesting structures that could be installed. The BWSSB would also publish and circulate booklets on the rainwater harvesting systems.

Last Updated on Friday, 24 July 2009 05:33
 

Rain takes catchment areas by storm, water cut is only 15%

Thursday, 23 July 2009 05:09 administrator
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Times of India 23.07.2009

Rain takes catchment areas by storm, water cut is only 15%

MUMBAI: With water levels in the lakes rising sharply following heavy rains in the catchment areas over the last couple of days, the BMC has reduced the water cut in the city from 30% to 15% .

"There has been very heavy rainfall in the areas around the lakes that supply water to the city. The downpour over the last two days has led to the lake levels rising considerably,'' civic chief Jairaj Phatak said on Wednesday.

The civic body had initially imposed a 10% water cut on June 9 following a delay in the arrival of the monsoon. When rains continued to elude the city, it doubled the cut to 20% on June 20. The reduction was further increased to 30% on July 7 due to sparse rains in the catchment areas despite showers lashing the city.

"We had no option but to impose the cut then. But things are looking better now and we have reduced the cut,'' Phatak said.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday, Modak Sagar received 103 mm of rain while Upper Vaitarna got 112 mm and Bhatsa got 71 mm. Tansa, Vihar and Tulsi recorded rainfall of 60 mm, 18 mm and 20 mm respectively.

On Tuesday, the lakes had a stock of 3,15,650 million litres (enough to last the city for 100 days). It increased to 3,72,140 million litres by Wednesday (enough to last 120 days). "One day's rainfall brought up the usable content by 20 days. But this is still worse than last year's figures when we had water to last us for 140 days, so we can't lift the cut totally. But as soon as the lakes start overflowing, we will restart full supply of water,'' Phatak said.

 

MMRDA plans to tap Shai water for Thane

Saturday, 18 July 2009 10:15 administrator
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Times of India 18.07.2009

MMRDA plans to tap Shai water for Thane

SHAHAPUR: Water woes for Thane and its suburbs may soon end according to the plans made by the MMRDA. The planning authority for the MMR has mega plans to construct a dam over the Shai River in Shahapur area to supply water that would suffice the requirement of the cities till 2021.

According to sources within the MMRDA, on the lines of the Master Plan for Mumbai that was drafted in 1994, a similar map for the neighbouring civic bodies like Thane, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ambernath and Badlapur has been drafted by it. Initially, the Shai dam project was to be built by the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) but it found the Rs 1,620-crore worth project financially unviable and then handed it over to the state for implementation. Later, a study on the possibility of constructing a permanent water source was undertaken in 2003 by a committee led by MMRDA to find future water sources for these areas coming under the MMR.

The plan is to execute the project in two phases. While the first part will encompass construction of the dam, the second will include development of related infrastructure like water treatment plants, pumping stations and develop transmission lines. Sources inform that while the dam construction will be undertaken by the irrigation department, other agencies like the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) will execute the second part. Once the project is underway, the MMRDA agencies will pump the water from the dam and then route it towards the respective civic bodies from the water treatment plant. The MMRDA would transport the filtered water till the boundaries of the respective civic bodies and then it would be the onus of the municipalities to deliver it to the local areas.

DT Dange, principal advisor, water supply resource management cell of the MMRDA confirmed the situation and informed that the project was still in the planning stage.

"Presently, we are working out the finer aspects of the project and will present the report in front of the Planning authority committee of the MMRDA for their approval. Once approved, the project will end the water problems being faced by the civic corporations and councils in the area," said Dange.

Speaking about the time span required for the completion, Dange informed that once approved, the land acquisitions and necessary approvals from the state forest department will have to be undertaken before starting work.

 
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