The Hindu 30.01.2014
Survey taken up to identify insanitary toilets, buildings
Civic body plans to create over 100 recharge pits for harvesting rainwater
Tiruchirapalli City Corporation has begun a survey to
identify insanitary toilets and buildings in the city in order to
initiate appropriate follow-up measures, said Corporation Commissioner
V.P. Thandapani here on Wednesday.
The survey will
enumerate toilets and buildings considered insanitary if they do not
have proper disposal mechanism for human waste. Toilets which are not
connected to the underground drainage or septic tanks, and those which
let out sewage into open drains will be considered insanitary.
Once
the survey is completed, notice will be issued to owners to initiate
appropriate measures, he said at a workshop on ‘Simple steps to achieve
water security – rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling,’
organised by the Rain Centre, Chennai, and SCOPE, a voluntary
organisation, in the city.
Mr. Thandapani said the
civic body had planned to create over 100 re-charge pits for harvesting
rainwater across the city, especially in areas where rainwater is found
stagnant.
Emphasising the need for proper design and
maintenance of rainwater harvesting structures (RWH), Mr. Thandapani
said the corporation had taken up a campaign to ensure that all
buildings in the city had RWH structures last year. However, many
buildings are yet to be provided with RWH structures or require
rejuvenation of existing ones.
He said RWH structures
should be designed properly in proportion to the built-up area and open
space in a particular building, and the quantity of the rainwater that
could be harvested. In most buildings, RWH structures had been put up to
meet minimal requirement. Town planning officers and engineers should
ensure that the structures were designed properly taking into account
the annual average rainfall of the area and the soil conditions.
Sekhar
Raghavan, Director, Rain Centre, Akash Ganga Trust, which had set up
the Rain Centre, had received a grant from Arghyam, a non-governmental
organisation based in Bangalore, to conduct 15 workshops on efficient
methods of rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling in Tamil Nadu.
Six of them had been held in Chennai and three each are being organised
in Coimbatore, Madurai, and Tiruchi, he said.