VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has
decided to refuse permission for new buildings in the city if the
builders fail to construct rainwater harvesting pits. 

A decision in this regard was taken by
the VMC officials after observing violation of the norm by many builders
even after payment of the requisite fee to the municipal corporation.  

At the recent VMC council meeting,
several ruling Telugu Desam corporators complained to Mayor Koneru
Sreedhar that majority of the building owners in the city were ignoring
construction of rainwater harvesting pits on building premises. 

The VMC council passed a resolution
earlier  making inclusion of rainwater harvesting pits in the building
plans in Vijayawada mandatory. The construction of rainwater water
harvesting pits helps increase the groundwater table in the city.  After
making it mandatory, the municipal corporation has given permissions
for as many as 2,500 buildings in the city through online and earned a
revenue of Rs 7 crore through collection of fee towards the construction
of rainwater harvesting pits. 

According to the VMC town planning wing
officials, the people can obtain building plan  approval by applying
through online.  “A software will check the provision for rainwater
harvesting pits in the building plan as soon as it is uploaded for
permission. If there are any deviations from the town planning rules in
the  building plan, it will be rejected. If the building plan meets all
the parameters, including the rainwater harvesting pits, its approval is
certain,” said a senior VMC official of the town planning department.

He admitted that due to busy work
schedule of the town planning officials they could not strictly verify
the inclusion of rainwater harvesting pits in the building plans in some
areas of the city. A team of officials were deployed to conduct
surprise checks across the city and initiate action against the builders
who flouted the rules with regard to construction of rainwater
harvesting pits, he added.