Sept 30 last date to set up rainwater harvesting system

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) extended the deadline given to property owners to install rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems from June 30 to September 30.

DJB officials say they want to make sure that the policy takes off not just on paper but in reality.

“The deadline was tight and almost impossible to meet. We can’t ensure that everyone has a rainwater harvesting pit by force. People have to be mobilised. Penalising them will not help and hence the extension,” says DJB CEO, Keshav Chandra.

For over a decade, policy makers in Delhi have tried to encourage rainwater harvesting. Policies have made the construction of RWH pits mandatory in buildings constructed on an area of more than 100 metre square. But the ground reality hasn’t changed. For around five years now, Delhi has only 500 approved RWH structures.

The new dispensation wants to change this. How successful they are remains to be seen.

For starters, the gover nment is looking at institutions instead of individual households.

“We want everyone to do it but the impact of institutions spread over a bigger area is going to be bigger. We will also move to individuals soon,” Chandra said.

Properties built on an area of over 500 metre square have been mandated to install a RWH system. They will get a rebate of 10% on water bills if this is done.

In case a system is not installed, the water tariff will be increased by 1.5 times.

The Delhi gover nment looked towards the Chennai model where the practice is mandatory to get a building licence, but is simple enough so that people are not getting permission through fraudulent measures.

In Delhi, this first meant making the process more flexible and less expensive.

According to Jyoti Shar ma of the Forum for Organised Resources Conservation and Enhancement (FORCE), the current policy is better despite its shortcomings. It makes it simpler and cheaper for people to set up RWH structures.

“The idea behind the new policy is that if a lot if people will do it, it will be very beneficial for the water table. The simplicity is to make sure that more people adopt it willingly,” Sharma said.

The new pit, without the borewell, can be constructed at a third of the cost of the previous one. It can also be made cheaper of you want a basic structure.

“For filtrates, we suggest using rocks, sand, gravel and charcoal etc. If that doesn’t work, even gunny bags at the bottom of the pit will do. All you have to ensure is that contaminated water is not entering the pit, and clean the pit regularly,” Chandra said.

This, however, can be tricky. To make sure that only rainwater enters the pit, the supply to the pit will have to be secured and it has to be made sure that any other lines, such as a sewer pipe, is not leaking and contaminating the water in the pit.

Maintaining and cleaning the pit and also the outlet one the roof and the downpipe are clean and unobstructed.

According to the latest groundwater survey of Delhi, south Delhi is the most parched. Water is found only at a depth of 40 metres. Only in six small pockets, three in northwest Delhi, one in north east Delhi and one in west Delhi can water be found at a two-metre depth.

On an average, water is found at a depth of 10-15 metres.

Hindustan Times New Delhi,   27th June 2016