The Hindu             27.11.2013

Rainwater harvesting in city to get fillip

The Chennai Corporation is planning to carry out
re-engineering of rainwater harvesting facilities in the city’s water
bodies spread over an area of 426 sq. km.

A meeting
to discuss steps to be taken to improve rainwater harvesting, disaster
preparedness, flood mitigation and drought relief in the city was held
on Tuesday.

More than 100 water bodies in the city,
excluding the 19 water bodies managed by the Water Resources Department,
have been identified as having untapped potential for rainwater
harvesting.

The Corporation is planning to implement
re-engineering of structures, including stormwater drains, in the
neighbourhood of small lakes and ponds maintained by it. The works are
likely to include redesign of stormwater drains, landscaping, desilting
and plugging of illegal sewer inlets.

The civic body
has studied data from a survey of water bodies, which was completed by
the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority a few years ago.

“A
senior official of the erstwhile Ambattur municipality initiated the
preparation of estimates for rainwater harvesting in Mangal Eri. But it
is yet to be implemented completely. The residents have been requesting
the Corporation to implement the project. This will help improve the
groundwater level in the neighbourhood,” said K. Neelakandan, councillor
of ward 92.

The effort is expected to improve the
level of disaster preparedness in the city by mitigating the problem of
floods in vulnerable localities. The work would gain pace in the coming
months and a complete disaster preparedness information system would be
in place shortly, an official said.

According to
civic body officials, the Water Resources Department and the Corporation
will re-examine the condition of flood-affected areas. The agencies
will also be evolving a plan to remove all obstacles for free flow of
rainwater into water bodies.

The re-engineering of
rainwater harvesting structures in temple tanks a few years ago has
improved groundwater levels in areas such as Thiruvanmiyur.

The
civic body is also planning to clear encroachments on water bodies that
were identified recently. The re-engineering of the structures is
expected to elicit protests from some residents who had allegedly
constructed houses on encroached land, said an official of the
Corporation.