Monsoon Melt: Where's all the water gone?

NEW DELHI: The monsoons finally came and went. It poured and poured for a few days in Delhi — but was any of that water saved? The Delhi Government has made it mandatory for all new buildings in South and South-west Delhi to have rainwater harvesting facilities. But who''s keeping track?
There is no mechanism in place to monitor that the law is being implemented and no figures of the number of people who might be doing it.
"There has been a huge scaling up of interest because of the water crisis in Delhi," says Sushmita Das Gupta of the Centre for Science and Environment. "There has been a definite growth in the installation of rainwater harvesting structures. But no mechanism has been set up to monitor how many are there."
CSE provides technical guidance and the design to people interested in putting up these structures. Every Friday, at their office, there are about nine inquiries.
The Central Ground Water Pollution Board (CGWPB) has the responsibility of overseeing the scheme — it has to approve the design. "We''ve had at least 2,000 people coming and taking designs from us," says a CGWPB official. But how many have actually been implemented? There''s no means of knowing this, he admits. "It''s physically not possible to visit all sites."
After the structures have been set up, the CGWPB is supposed to be informed about it. That rarely happens.
What CSE does monitor on a regular basis — and what is a fairly good benchmark whether rainwater harvesting is working — is the quantity and quality of ground water. "The primary objective of harvesting is to recharge falling ground water. So its failure and success can be measured per ground water levels," says Das Gupta.
"There is a huge rise in the number of people putting up the structures. But while rain water harvesting is a key element in augmenting water source, it''s not enough to solve the water problems of Delhi," she says. What''s essential? "We need to change consumption patterns."