Hyderabad needs to become a water tanker free city with the help of the civic administration, NGOs and the several government and educational institutions by catching every drop of rainfall said, G. Asok Kumar, Addl. Secretary & MD, National Water Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti on Thursday while addressing participants in the monthly webinar series National Water mission-Catch the Rain campaign. The city in focus was Hyderabad.
Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, ITE&C Department, Government of Telangana said that his department is one hundred per cent committed to this campaign and would implement it in the industrial parks. He also suggested people interested in rainwater harvesting to take the expertise from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU). He further added that it is easy for people tos ay that they would go for rainwater harvesting but therei s a science behind it and one needs to understand.
The Secunderabad Cantonment has vast tracts of open land and a potential source for rainwater harvesting. The Secunderabad Cantonment Board CEO B Ajith Reddy said that the cantonment would be more than happy to collaborate with the other civic body, GHMC and Water Board in saving water and undertaking rainwater harvesting.
The capital city of Telangana, Hyderabad has been witnessing floods in recent years and even a slight shower results in roads and low lying areas getting inundated with water. Kalpana Ramesh of Society for Advancement of Human Endeavour (SAHE) said that citizens spend Rs 20 crore per year for water tankers.
V Prakash, chairman, Telangana State Water Resources Development Corporation (TSWRDC) suggested that the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSS&B) could conduct a survey on the dried-up borewells so that they could be rejuvenated.
Rainwater Harvesting has been taken up in a big way by the JNTU and has proven to be a successful model. Dr M V S S Giridhar of JNTU said, “There are 20 structures in the campus and it is a zero discharge, zero mainitainence university.”
Dana Kishore, MD, HMWSS&B informed that the Water Board has taken up several awareness campaigns and has also undertaken water auditing for 1.5 lakh connections and appointed 14 officers to take forward the programmes.
Institutions to take up rainwater harvesting in a big way
During the meeting it was decided that several educational and government institutions with large tracts of land would be undertaking rainwater harvesting. Asok Kumar said that a campaign ‘Not from my compound’ could be taken up and to ensure not a single drop from respective campuses goes out.
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