Pune Municipal Corporation budget moots funds for old buildings to harvest rain

PUNE: Old buildings constructed before 2005 will get financial aid from

Pune Municipal Corporation

(

PMC

) to set up

rainwater

harvesting systems.

A policy proposal to this effect was adopted by the standing committee in its civic budget for 2018-19 presented on Tuesday. Chairman of the committee

Murlidhar Mohol

told TOI that the new scheme will encourage old buildings to put up rainwater harvesting systems and thus ensure groundwater recharge.

“We will issue grants which will make it possible for old buildings to put up rainwater harvesting systems. The rules and regulations for the newly proposed scheme will soon be formed,” Mohol added.

Rainwater harvesting was made mandatory for all new buildings in 2005 by the civic body which also offers a rebate in property tax to societies that take up this green measure to conserve water. Civic officials said of the eight lakh registered properties only 25,000 have taken up rainwater harvesting, so far.

A large numbers of housing projects that came up before 2005 have not adopted rainwater harvesting. The civic body could not make it mandatory for these old constructions. Technical feasibility posed problems in some cases, but paucity of funds was the biggest obstacle.

When it was pointed out that there is no specific financial allocation for the project in the budget, Mohol said, “ Once we frame the rules, a complete survey of such structures will be taken up. We will know how much funds will be needed and these will be made available. Once the GB adopts the policy decision, funds will not be a constraint.”

Besides encouraging citizens to adopt rainwater harvesting, the civic administration has plans to install RWH systems in all the civic buildings including schools and hospitals.

Experts too have stressed the need for harvesting rain. They said Pune receives abundant rain, but most of it runs off since little has been done to save it.

Rainwater harvesting expert Col Shashikant

Dalvi

(retd) said the city has great potential. “A solution to the city’s water crises depends on how we utilize the ‘rainwater potential’. Pune has rainwater potential of around 75,000 litre on 1,000 sqft of catchment area like a rooftop,” he added.

Sourcing water from dams like Bhama Askhed or Kundalika was not a solution. In a deficient monsoon, the city will not be able to get water supply from these sources, Dalvi added. Rainwater harvesting from rooftops will always be available for citizens, he said.

Beside, water consumption is rising and groundwater levels are dipping. Many societies in the fringe area depend on water tankers. Recharging aquifers with filtered rainwater is a simple, safe and clean way of preserving rainwater that otherwise goes waste by flowing into drains

Rainwater can be harvested through rooftops and surface. Installing a system in an existing building costs between Rs 2,000 and Rs 30,000 for an area of about 300 sqm.